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THE LIFE 

OF 

General Ulysses S. Grant. 



CONTAINING 



A BRIEF BUT FAITHFUL NARRATIVE 



OF THOSE 



MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ACHIEVEMENTS 



WHICH HAVE ENTITLED HIM TO THE 



CONFIDENCE AND GRATITUDE OE HIS COUNTRYMEN. 



BY 

JOHN" S. C. ABBOTT, 

AUTHOR OP "LIFE OF NAPOLEON," "HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION," "HISTORY OP 
THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA," "LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED. 




BOSTON: 
B. B. RUSSELL, PUBLISHER, 55 OORNHILL. 

CINCINNATI: WHITE, CORBIN, BOUVE, & CO. 
SAN FRANCISCO : H. H. BANCROFT & CO. 

1868. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

B. B. RUSSELL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



Geo. C. Rand & Avery, 

Stereotypers and Printers, 

3 Cornhill, Boston. 



PREFACE. 




ENERAL GRANT is emphatically a man, not 
of words, but of deeds. His eloquence is the 
eloquence of action. He will be renowned, 
through all future time, for the achievements 
which he has performed, — achievements which, 
every impartial student of history will declare, give him posi- 
tion among the ablest men the world has known. 

"We are, in our day, apt to give undue importance to fluency 
of speech. There is a charm in popular eloquence which cap- 
tivates the mind. And one is led to suppose that the man who 
can give utterance to noble thoughts in glowing sentences, 
who can soar in dazzling flight upon the wings of imagination, 
who, with fluency which never fails him, can on all occasions 
make an apt and taking speech, must. surely be a man of wide 
reach of intellect, of sound judgment, of executive ability. 

But no student of the past, no careful observer of the pres- 
ent, need be informed that such a conclusion may be very erro- 
neous. The voluble talker is often the very inefficient actor. 
The man who can elicit shouts of applause upon the platform 
may be the very last man to plan and execute an important 
enterprise. In fact, speech-making has become the pest of the 
present day in legislative halls, consuming the time, and clog- 



4 PREFACE. 

ging the wheels of action. Moses, whom God chose as the 
ruler of Israel, was " slow of speech." 

In these few pages we present the character of a thoughtful, 
reserved, taciturn man, — a man of tireless energies, of great 
breadth of comprehension, of the highest order of administrative 
genius. No man can read these pages without being convinced 
that General Grant is, in mental capacity, one of the foremost 
men of the present age. 

To lead a charge on the field of battle requires but little 
save the heroism of courage. But to conduct a campaign like 
that of Vicksburg, or Chattanooga, or Richmond demands the 
highest order of intellect. All the resources of which the mind 
is capable are called into exercise. The man who has thus 
been tested proves himself qualified for any administrative duty 
which may be assigned to him. 

We speak of General Grant as not being a man of words. 
And yet there is great power in the few words which he does use. 
His despatches are models : brief, comprehensive, clear, no 
man can misunderstand them. The energy with which General 
Grant grappled with the Rebellion, the self-denying patriotism 
with which he consecrated himself to the service of the country, 
and the achievements to which he led the glorious armies of the 
Republic, giving our nation new renown throughout the world, 
surely entitle him to the confidence and affection of every 
American citizen. 

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. 
New Haven, April, 1868. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

COMMENCEMENT OP HIS CAREER. 

PAGE. 

Parentage.— Anecdotes of his Childhood. — Enters West Point. — Develop- 
ment of Character. — Studies and Rank. — Stationed on the Frontiers.— 
Ordered to Mexico. — Battle of Palo Alto ; of Resaca de la Palma. — Cap- 
ture of Monterey. — Joins the Army of General Scott. — Promotions.— 
Battle of Molino del Rey; of Chapultepec — Conquest of Mexico. — With- 
drawal of the Troops H 

CHAPTER II. 

THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 

General Grant stationed in Oregon. — Life on the Frontier. — Resigns his 
Commission. — A Farmer. — A Merchant. — Commencement of the Re- 
bellion.— Raises a Company. — Promoted to a Colonelcy. — A Brigadier- 
General.— Seizes Paducah. — In Command at Cairo. — Expedition to 
Belmont. — The Battle. — Its Results 23 

CHAPTER III. 

THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY, AND THE MARCH TO DONELSON. 

The Military Line of the Rebels.— The Strategic Importance of the Posts. — 
General Grant's Views. — The Co-operation of Commodore Foote. — The 
Naval and Land Force. — Plan of Attack. — The Battle and Capture of 
Fort Henry. — Preparation for the Attack upon Donelson. — Strength of 
the Works. — Peril of the Attack 35 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 

The March to Donelson. — Investment of the Fort. — The Bivouac. — Com- 
mencement of the Conflict. — The Wintry Storm. — Action of the Gun- 
boats.— The Repulse. — Interview between Foote and Grant. — Despera- 
tion of the Foe. — The Attempt to Escape. — Energy and Sagacity of 
Grant. — The Final Conflict. — The Capture and its Results . . . .47 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BATTLE OF 8HILOH. 

PAGE. 

Opening of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. — Generals Grant and 
Sherman. — Disembarkation at Pittsburg Landing. — The Situation. — Plan 
of the rebel General Johnston and its Success. — Valiant Defence.— 
General Lewis Wallace unjustly censured. — His Vindication. — Prompt 
Action of Colonel Webster ^61 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 

Renewal of the Battle. — Retreat of the Rebels. — General Grant's Charge.— 
Spectacle of the Battle-field. — Testimony of General Sherman. — Grant's 
Congratulatory Order. — The Unfavorable Impression. — Speech of Hon. 
E. B. Washburne.— General Halleck assumes the Command. — The Ad- 
vance upon Corinth. — The Investment. — Impatience of the Troops . . 73 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE SIEGE OF CORINTH, AND THE ADVANCE TO VICKSBURG. 

The Secret Evacuation. — Chagrin of the Army. — General Grant restored to 
his Command. — His Headquarters at Corinth. — Plans of Price, Bragg, and 
Van Dorn. — The Rebel Batteries at Vicksburg. — The Advance upon 
Vicksburg. — Failure of the Canal. — The Lake-Providence Enterprise.— 
The Moon-Lake Enterprise. — The Yazoo Enterprise ... . . .84 

CHAPTER VIH. 

RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 

Bitter Feeling towards General Grant. — President Lincoln approves his 
Course. — His Movement upon Vicksburg. — Opposition to Ids Plans. — 
March to New Carthage. — Self-reliance of General Grant. — Admiral 
Porter. — Enthusiasm of the Sailors. — Conflict on the River. — Running 
the Batteries. — Secessionist Revenge 100 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE MARCH TO THE REAR. 

Bombardment of Grand Gulf. — Crossing at Bruinsburg. — Friendly Negroes. 
— Advance upon Tort Gibson. — The Battle.— Repulse of the Foe. — 
Flight and Consternation. — Grant's Despatches. — His Caution and Dan- 
ger. — Personul Habits.— Testimony of General Badeau . . . .in 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER X. 

THE ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBURG. 

PAGE. 

Innumerable Cares of the General. — The March along the Big Black. — Cap- 
ture of Jackson. — Strategy and Tactics.— Youthful Combatants. — Advance 
upon Edwards's Station. — Battle of Champion Hill. — Capture of Edwards's 
Station. — Despatch from General Halleck. — Battle of Black-river Bridge. 

— Entire Discomfiture of the Foe 123 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE CAPTURE OF TICKSBURG. 
Crossing the Big Black. — Singular Interview between Grant and Sherman.— 
The Investment of Vicksburg. — Magnitude of the Achievement. — Progress 
of the Siege. —Johnston's unavailing Endeavors. — Explosion of the Mine. 

— Distress of the Besieged. — The Capitulation. — Rebel "Chivalry." — 
Letter from President Lincoln 136 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 
Results from the Fall of Vicksburg. — Humanity of General Sherman. —Peril 
of the Army in East Tennessee. — Disaster at Chattanooga. — General Grant 
placed in Command. — His Wonderful Energy. — Opening Communications. 

— The Pontoon Bridge. — Movement of Hooker and Howard. — The Repulse 

of the Rebels 155 

CHAPTER XIII. 

PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 
Extent of General Grant's Command. — March of Sherman. — Chagrin of 
the Rebels. — Characteristics. — Peril of Burnside. — Anxiety of Grant.— 
Grandeur of the Military Movements. — Grant's Despatches. — Position of 
General Thomas.— Arrival of Sherman. — Meeting of Sherman and How- 
ard. — Assuming the Offensive 168 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 
Lookout Mountain. — General Hooker's Advance. — The Battle in the Clouds. 

— Retreat of the Foe. — Position of the Armies. — Plan of the Battle.— 
Characteristics of General Grant. — Movements of Sherman ; of Hooker — 
The Decisive Charge by Thomas. — The Victory. — Sheridan's Pursuit. 

— Activity of General Grant. — The great Ability he displayed . . .180 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE PURSUIT. 
Night-Scene. — Grant's Despatches. — The Pursuit. — Destruction of Chatta- 
nooga Depot. — Speech of Jefferson Davis. — The Contest at Ringgold. — 
The Campaign and the Great Battle. — Lincoln's Proclamation and Letter. 

— Halleck's Report. — Movements for the Relief of Burnside. — Grant's 
Despatches ..".,,,,,..,,,, 191 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 

PA6K. 

The Siege of Knoxville. — Preparations for Defence. — Rebel Attack upon 
Fort Sanders. — Bloody Repulse. — Flight of Longstreet. — Arrival of Sher- 
man. — Grant's Congratulatory Order. — His Energy. — Testimony of the 
Indian Chief. — National Testimonials. — Speeches in Congress. — Medal. — 
Sherman's Raid. — Exploring Mountain Passes. — Visit to St. Louis . . 202 

CHAPTER XVII. 

NATIONAL HONORS CONFERRED UPON GENERAL GRANT. 

Revival of the Grade of Lieutenant-General. — Speech of Hon. Mr. Farns- 
worth. — Of Hon. Mr. Washburne. — Action of Congress. — General Grant 
nominated by the President. — His Letter to Sherman. — The Reply. — 
Public Enthusiasm. — Conferring the Commission. — New Plans for the 
Conduct of the War 217 

CHAPTER XVILL 

THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 
The Plan of the Campaigns. — Crossing the Rapidan. — The First Day's Battle. 
— Picturesque Spectacle. — The Second Day's Battle. — The Third Day's 
Battle. — Peculiarity of the Conflict. — Terrible Losses. — Battle of Spott- 
eylvania Court-house. — Defeat of the Rebels. — Death of Wadsworth and 
Sedgwick.— Anecdotes of General Grant 227 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE MARCH FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMTJNKEY. 

Scenes on the Battle-field. — General Hancock's Midnight Charge. — The Bat- 
tle of Spottsylvania. — The Retreat of the Foe. — Grant's Congratulatory 
Order. — The Mud Blockade. — Advance to Guinea's Station. — The Race 
for Richmond. — The Pageantry of War. — Magnitude of the Army. — Ad- 
vance to the North Anna. — Positions of the Two Armies. — Secret March 
to the Pamunkey. — New Base of Supplies 239 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE MARCH FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 

The Union Lines on the Chickahominy. — The Opposing Rebel Lines. — The 
Desperate Battle. — Days of Intrenching and of Battle. — Preparations for 
another Flank Movement. — The Wonderful March to Petersburg. — Sur- 
prise and Alarm of the Enemy. — Change of Base of Supplies. — Conflicts 
around Petersburg. — The Siege Commenced 251 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 
Investing Petersburg. — The Railroads. — General Birney's Raid. — The Cav- 
alry Raid of Generals Wilson and Kautz. — General Grant's Despatch. — 
Feelings of the Soldiers. — The Bombardment of the City. — Sympathy 
between President Lincoln and General Grant. — Ewell's Raid . . .262 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER XXII. 

PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 

PAGE. 

Labors of a Beleaguering Army. —Attack upon Richmond from the North. — 
The Mine: its Construction, Explosion, Results. — Gregg's Raid to the 
Weldon Road. — Its Seizure. — Desperate but Unsuccessful Struggles of 
the Rebels. — Treachery of the Rebels. — Military Railroad. — Tidings of the 
Capture of Atlanta. — Obduracy of Jeff. Davis. — Immensity of General 
Grant's Cares 275 

CHAPTER XXQI. 

grant's battles and Sherman's march. 

General Grant's Report. — General Butler's Movement upon Richmond.— 
March to the South-side Railroad. — Midnight Bombardment. — Renewed 
Attempt upon the South-side Railroad. — President Lincoln's Second Inau- 
gural. — Sherman's Wonderful March. — Ravages of the March. — Capture 
of Savannah 286 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE final victory. 

Pride of the Rebels. — Anxiety of the North for Peace. — Sherman's March 
through the Carolinas. — The Ravages of War. — Grant's Comprehensive 
Plans. — Continued Battles. — Lee's Plan of Escape. — The Last Struggle. 
—Lee's Utter Discomfiture. — His Flight. — The Surrender. — Overthrow 
of the Rebellion. —Grant's Farewell Address .297 



LIFE OF GENERAL' GRANT. 



CHAPTER I. 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 



Parentage. — Anecdotes of his Childhood. — Enters West Point. — De- 
velopment of Character. — Studies and Bank. — Stationed on the 
Frontiers. — Ordered to Mexico. — Battle of Palo Alto ; of Besaca de 
la Palma. — Capture of Monterey. — Joins the Army of Gen. Scott. — 
Pi-omotions. — Battle of Molino del Bey ; of Chapultepec. — Conquest 
of Mexico. — Withdrawal of the Troops. 

PON the banks of the Ohio River, about 
twenty-five miles above the city of Cincin- 
nati, there is the little village of Point 
Pleasant, containing three or four hun- 
dred inhabitants. It is a pleasant point of 
the beautiful stream (la belle riviere, as the French call 
the Ohio), and lies on the northern or Ohio side, in 
what is now known as Clermont County. Not quite 
half a century ago, a very worthy young man of Scotch 
descent drifted to that remote region on the tide of migra- 
tion which was then, as now, sweeping, with ever-increas- 
ing flood, towards the setting sun. He had brought with 
him from his Pennsylvania home the Bible in his chest, 
and its principles in his heart, and became a respected 
member of the Methodist persuasion. He found him a 




12 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

bride in an excellent maiden who had accompanied her 
parents to this frontier settlement from Pennsylvania. 

On the 27th of April, 1822, a son was born to them, 
who received the baptismal name of Ulysses S. Grant. 
The babe was scarcely a year old, when the parents 
removed about twenty miles up the river, to George- 
town, Brown County, Ohio, about seven miles back from 
the stream. Here the little family found themselves in a 
more progressive region, and in the midst of a more 
energetic, intelligent, and thriving community. Ulysses 
was sent to the village school, where he obtained the 
rudiments of his education. He developed at that early 
period no qualities which indicated that he was destined 
to distinction. He was a good boy, — faithful in his 
duties, peaceably disposed, of sober character, and solid 
endowments. A few incidents have been gleaned from 
parents and friends, so few and so trivial as only to 
prove, that, in those early years, there was nothing par- 
ticularly to distinguish him from the other farmers' boys 
who were his companions and friends. 

We are told, that, when the child was but two years old, 
his father was one morning holding him in his arms, in a 
public part of the village, when a boy came along with a 
loaded pistol. Curious to see how the babe would stand 
the fire, the boy asked the father of the child to let 
Ulysses pull the trigger. They curled the tiny finger 
around it. The child pulled, and the charge was ex- 
ploded. Delighted with the loud report, the little fel- 
low shouted, " Fick it again ! " One standing by said, 
" That boy will make a general." None will question but 
that the prediction has been verified. 

The father of General Grant, in an account of his 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 13 

childhood published in " The Ledger," gives the follow- 
ing interesting narrative : — 

" The leading passion of Ulysses, almost from the time 
he could go alone, was for horses. The first time he 
ever drove a horse alone, he was about seven and a half 
years old. I had gone away from home, to Ripley, 
twelve miles off. I went in the morning, and did not 
get back until night. I owned, at the time, a three-year 
old colt, which had been ridden under the saddle to 
carry the mail, but had never had a collar on. While I 
was gone, Ulysses got the colt, and put a collar and the 
harness on him, and hitched him up to a sled. Then he 
put a single line -on to him, and drove off, and loaded up 
the sled with brush, and came back again. He kept at 
it, hauling successive loads, all day ; and, when I came 
home at night, he had a pile of brush as big as a cabin. 

" At about ten years of age he used to drive a pair 
of horses alone, from Georgetown, where we lived, forty 
miles, to Cincinnati, and bring back a load of passengers. 

"When Ulysses was a boy, if a circus or any show 
came along, in which there was a call for somebody to 
come forward and ride a pony, he was always the one to 
present himself, and whatever he undertook to ride he 
rode. This practice he kept up until he got to be so 
large that he was ashamed to ride a pony. 

" Once, when he was a boy, a show came along in 
which there was a mischievous pony, trained to go round 
the ring like lightning, and he was expected to throw 
any boy that attempted to ride him. 

" < Will any boy come forward and ride this pony ? ' 
shouted the ring-master. 

"Ulysses stepped forward, and mounted the pony. 
The performance began. Round and round and round 



14 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the ring went the pony, faster and faster, making the 
greatest effort to dismount the rider. But Ulysses sat 
as steady as if he had grown to the pony's back. Pres- 
ently out came a large monkey, and sprang up behind 
Ulysses. The people set up a great shout of laughter, 
and on the pony ran ; but it all produced no effect on 
the rider. Then the ring-master made the monkey 
jump up on to Ulysses's shoulders, standing with his feet 
on his shoulders, and with his hands holding on to his 
hair. At this there was another and a still louder shout, 
but not a muscle of Ulysses's face moved. There was 
not a tremor of his nerves. A few more rounds, and 
the ring-master gave it up: he had come across a boy 
that the pony and the monkey both could not dismount." 

We are told, that, when he was twelve years of age, his 
father sent him to a neighboring farmer to close the 
bargain for a horse which he was wishing to purchase. 
Before Ulysses started, his father said to him, — 

" You can tell Mr. Ralston that I have sent you to buy 
the horse, and that I will give him fifty dollars for it. 
If he will not take that, you may offer him fifty-five ; 
and I should be willing to go as high as sixty, rather 
than not get the horse." 

This is essentially an old story, probably having a mere 
foundation in fact ; but the peculiarity in this case was, 
that when Ralston asked Ulysses directly, " How much 
did your father say you might give for the horse ? " he did 
not .know how to prevaricate, but replied, honestly and 
emphatically, — 

" Father told me to offer you fifty dollars at first ; if that 
would not do, to give you fifty-five dollars ; and that he 
would be willing to give sixty, rather than not get the 
horse." 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 15 

" Well, I cannot sell the horse for less than sixty 
dollars," Mr. Ralston replied. 

" I am sorry for that," was the rejoinder of young 
Grant, in a tone of decision which satisfied the farmer 
that he meant what he said ; " for, since I have seen the 
horse, I have determined not to give more than fifty dol- 
lars. If you cannot take that, we must look elsewhere 
for a horse." 

Mr. Ralston took the fifty dollars ; and Ulysses rode the 
horse home. 

A brother of Ulysses' father had settled in Canada. 
As there was no school in his settlement, he sent his 
son John, who was about the age of Ulysses, to George- 
town, to board with his uncle, and to go to school with 
his cousin. We are told, that, on one occasion, John, who 
was imbued with British prejudices, said, — 

" Your boasted Washington was a rebel and a traitor. 
He fought against his king." 

" Repeat that," said Ulysses, " and I will whip you." 

The pluck of both boys was roused. There was a fierce 
battle between the American Eagle and the British Lion. 
Though the eagle suffered severe handling, and had its 
pinions ruffled, and showed some crimson spots, the lion 
was compelled to retire from the field smothered with 
bewildering blows. It is said, that, many years afterwards, 
the two cousins met in Canada, when stalwart young 
men. As they were m pleasantly talking, John suddenly 
exclaimed, — 

"I say, U. S.,do you remember the thrashing you gave 
me at school for calling Washington a rebel ? " 

" Yes," Ulysses replied with a quiet smile ; " and I 
should do the same thing again under a similar provoca- 



16 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

In the year 1839, Ulysses, then seventeen years of age, 
entered the Military Academy at West Point as a cadet. 
His progress here, as at school, was steady, not rapid ; 
his qualities solid, not brilliant. Whatever he gained in 
advancement he kept, never falling back. He was faith- 
ful in every duty ; securing the approbation of his 
teachers, and the affection of his associates. The four 
years passed at West Point were four years of intense 
application, devoted to the attainment of all those sciences, 
and all that knowledge, which pan be rendered available 
in the art of war. He was led through the various 
branches of a thorough English education ; studied the 
French and Spanish languages, chemistry, experimental 
philosophy ; was taught the essential art of drawing ; 
received instruction in ethics, and in constitutional, mili- 
tary, and international law ; in mineralogy and geology ; 
and was thoroughly drilled in infantry and artillery 
tactics ; in the use of rifled, mortar, siege, and seacoast 
guns ; in small-sword and bayonet exercise ; in the con- 
struction of field-works and fortifications, and in the 
fabrication of munition and materiel of war. Thus he 
became, by long and severe training, a highly-accom- 
plished man, well prepared to meet the emergencies 
and great struggles which lie across every one's path 
through life. 

Such are the legends which have floated to us from 
Grant's early years. We do not vouch for their accuracy. 
They merely show the general character which Ulysses 
S. Grant had established as a boy, for patriotism, firm- 
ness, and unboastful bravery. He graduated in June, 1843, 
standing in rank about the middle in his class, and imme- 
diately entered the United-States army as brevet second 
lieutenant of infantry. He was despatched as a super- 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 17 

numerary lieutenant to join a company of infantry sta- 
tioned far away on the frontiers of the Missouri Territory, 
to watch the Indians. The region was then a wilderness, 
which civilization was just beginning to penetrate. The 
Indians, exasperated by the treatment which they were 
continually receiving from vagabond white men, had be- 
come very menacing and dangerous. Ignorant, degraded, 
and brutal, they knew not how to discriminate between 
the innocent and the guilty. In retaliation of their 
wrongs, they often inflicted vengeance upon the families 
of the peaceful settlers, — vengeance the recital even of 
which causes the blood to curdle in one's veins. 

Nearly two years Lieutenant Grant passed in these dis- 
tant and dreary solitudes, far removed from the intel- 
lectual and refining influences of civilized life. But 
there was a cloud gathering in our southern horizon. A 
war with Mexico was manifestly approaching. Quite a 
little army of United-States troops was gradually being 
concentrated in Texas. The boundary-line between 
Texas and Mexico was disputed. 

The American troops took possession of Corpus Christi, 
an important Texan post upon the Gulf of Mexico. In 
the year 1845, Lieutenant Grant was sent, with his regi- 
ment, to this place, commissioned as full second lieutenant 
of infantry. The anticipated struggle soon commenced 
in Texas, without any declaration of war. The hostile 
troops were facing each other upon the opposite banks 
of the Rio Grande. There was a small garrison of Ameri- 
can troops at Fort Brown, opposite Matamoras. After 
a severe bombardment, the Mexicans crossed the river, 
six thousand in number, to attack the fort in front and 
rear. General Taylor was at Point Isabel, twelve miles 
distant. Major Brown, in command of the fort, signalled 



18 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

his peril by firing, during the night, eigh teen-pounders at 
stated intervals. Lieutenant Grant was then with General 
Taylor. Early on the morning of the 8th of May, 1846, 
they commenced their march, with about twenty-two hun- 
dred men, for the rescue of their comrades. As they 
pressed eagerly and anxiously along, the thunders of the 
Mexican bombardment rolled heavily over the prairie, pro- 
claiming that their comrades must be sorely beleaguered. 

It was nearly noon when the American troops encoun- 
tered the Mexicans, drawn up to meet them, in line of 
battle, on the field of Palo Alto. General Taylor prompt- 
ly formed his line at the distance of half a mile from the 
foe. Thus the two hostile forces, nearly equal in number, 
faced each other on a vast plain, where the prairie-grass 
waved densely around them, and where not a hillock, a 
tree, or a shrub obstructed the view. The battle soon 
commenced ; and, as the forces were too far distant for mus- 
ketry to be effective, it was mainly conducted by artillery 
on each side. The Americans had the best gunners, and 
the heavest weight of metal. With this advantage, our 
round-shot, grape, and shell tore through the Mexican 
ranks with great slaughter. The American infantry 
threw themselves upon the ground. Some of the Mexi- 
can shot passed over their heads, though most of it fell 
short in its range. It was a very foolish affair ou the 
part of the Mexicans. They stood stubbornly at their 
post, to be slaughtered by our guns ; while the Americans 
were almost entirely out of the range of theirs. Prob- 
ably they were not aware of the inefficiency of their 
fire ; for the prairie-grass was soon in flames, rolling 
along in fiery billows ten feet high, and enveloping the 
contending hosts in dense and suffocating smoke. 

Night closed the scene. Neither party knew what had 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAltEEK. 19 

been the effect of its cannonade upon the other. But the 
Mexican loss had been two hundred and sixty-two. 
The Americans had lost but four killed and thirty-two 
wounded. This was Lieutenant Grant's first battle. 
There could be but little opportunity for any display of 
gallantry upon such a field. 

At night, the Mexicans retired, and stationed them- 
selves in a new and more formidable position, a few miles 
in the rear, called Resaca de la Palma. They had left 
behind them their dead and many of their wounded. 
General Taylor pressed cautiously on, and soon found 
them posted in a ravine surrounded by dense and almost 
impenetrable thickets of dwarf-oaks. Again the battle 
was opened with artillery ; but it was soon followed up 
with charges of infantry and cavalry. The Mexicans 
fought with great pertinacity. But the Americans, more 
intelligent and better disciplined, fired more rapidly and 
with surer aim, and gained a far more signal victory 
than that of the day before. The Mexicans were soon 
seen on the rapid retreat, having lost, in killed and 
wounded, a thousand ; while the American loss did not 
exceed a hundred and fifty. This was Lieutenant Grant's 
second battle. 

The army marched up the left bank of the Rio Grande 
a distance of one hundred and forty miles', and then 
crossed the river, and marched upon Monterey. The 
city was garrisoned by ten thousand Mexican troops. 
General Taylor led an army of six thousand two hun- 
dred and twenty men. On Sunday morning, Sept. 20, our 
army arrived before the city. A careful reconnoissance 
showed that it was strongly fortified, and that its ram- 
parts and bastions were armed with heavy guns. After 
a terrible and bloody conflict, which lasted,- with few 
intermissions, until the 24th, the city capitulated. 



20 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

While at West Point, young Grant, who, from his 
vigorous constitution and frame, excelled in all athletic 
exercises, acquired the reputation of being one of the 
boldest riders in the school. He lost none of this faculty 
in his experience with the Indians on the boundless plains 
of the West. 

At the battle of Monterey, the brigade, with which 
Lieutenant Grant served, had exhausted nearly all of its 
ammunition. They were in the heart of the city, from 
which there was no egress but through a narrow street, 
the houses on one side of which were held by the Mexi- 
cans, who fired from the windows and the roofs. Some 
one must be sent through this street to Walnut Springs, 
a distance of four miles, for ammunition. It was so 
perilous an adventure, that the general in command 
hesitated to order any soldier to go upon it. He there- 
fore called for some one to volunteer. Lieutenant Grant 
stepped forward with the offer of his services. Throw- 
ing himself upon a fleet horse, and adopting an expedi- 
ent which he had learned of the Indians, he caught his 
foot in the crooper of his saddle, and, grasping the flow- 
ing mane with his hands, he hung upon the side of his 
horse, so as to be shielded by his body from the shots of 
the Mexicans, and then, spurring the animal to its utmost 
speed, safely ran the gantlet. In an hour he returned 
with a wagon-load of ammunition and an escort. 

The loss of the enemy at Monterey is not known : it 
must have been dreadful. Our balls and shells swept 
their thronged streets with awful carnage. The Ameri- 
can army also Jost heavily. Twelve officers, and one 
hundred and eighty men, were killed ; and thirty-one 
officers, and three hundred and thirty-seven men, were 
wounded. This was Lieutenant Grant's third battle. 



COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 21 

Thus was Providence preparing him for the great events 
in which he was subsequently to attract the attention of 
the world. 

During all these movements, Lieutenant Grant had 
retained his connection with the Fourth Infantry, the 
regiment with which he had commenced his career in the 
wilds of the Missouri Territory. 

General Scott had landed at Yera Cruz. A portion of 
General Taylor's force on the upper Rio Grande was sent 
down the river to co-operate with him. Lieutenant Grant 
accompanied the Fourth Regiment, which was a part of 
this detached force. Yera Cruz was besieged and cap- 
tured. Lieutenant Grant was very efficient in this great 
military achievement. His rank was, however, too 
humble, thus far, for him to take any part so conspicuous 
as to attract the eyes of the nation. Still, it is evident 
that he was gaining constantly in the confidence and 
esteem of his fellow-soldiers. 

As the army was preparing for its march into the inte- 
rior, to the halls of the Montezumas, Lieutenant Grant 
received the honorable and important appointment of 
quartermaster of his regiment. This office brought him 
more prominently into the view of his commanding offi- 
cers. Though not necessarily called into the field, he was 
ever eager for active service whenever he found that he 
could be useful. At the battle of Molino del Rey, fought 
on the 8th of September, 1847, his gallantry in the field 
caused his promotion to a first lieutenancy. In the fierce 
strife at Chapultepec, on the loth, he won the high 
approval of his superior officers by his bravery and the 
sagacity of his tactics while under fire. He was conse- 
quently promoted to the brevet of captain. 

Upon the fall of the city of Mexico, and the peace which 



22 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ensued, the United-States troops were recalled ; and Cap- 
tain Grant returned with his regiment, the Fourth In- 
fantry, and disembarked at New York. The regiment 
was soon after distributed in companies along different 
points of the frontiers of the States of New York and 
Michigan. Captain Grant went with his company to one 
of these points of defence. 

The father of General Grant writes, in 1863, of the son 
of whom he may justly be so proud : " When a child, 
and all the way up to the present time, he has been ex- 
tremely modest and unassuming. Some called it bash- 
fulness ; but that was not the proper name. For those 
who knew him best said, that if he were required to meet 
a company of crowned heads from Europe, male or female, 
he would approach them with as much ease, and confer 
with them as free from embarrassment, as he would meet 
his playmates in the streets." 

And here let it be remarked, as one of the crowning 
glories of his character, that, when Ulysses S. Grant had 
been in the army seventeen years, he had never been 
known to utter a profane or an immodest word. This 
is the instinct of a noble nature. In this he resembled 
Washington and Napoleon, both of whom he has rivalled 
in his military achievements. 




CHAPTER II. 

THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 

General Grant stationed in Oregon. —Life on the Frontier. — Resigns his 
Commission. — A Farmer. — A Merchant. — Commencement of the Re- 
bellion. — Raises a Company. — Promoted to a Colonelcy. — A Briga- 
dier-General. — Seizes Paducah. — In Command at Cairo. — Expedi- 
tion to Belmont. — The Battle. — Its Results. 

HE discovery of gold in California was now- 
pouring a flood-tide of emigration into that 
far-distant land. Of course, many of the 
desperate, the vile, and the reckless fol- 
lowed in the crowd. There were such 
scenes of lawlessness enacted on the part of the whites, 
provoking the Indians to the most cruel reprisals, that it 
was deemed necessary to send a United-States force there, 
to preserve the semblance, at least, of order. A detach- 
ment of troops, which included the Fourth Infantry, was 
accordingly despatched to the department of the Pacific. 
Captain Grant went with his company. The battalion to 
which the company was attached was sent into Oregon, 
and took up its quarters at Fort Dallas, in that wild and 
distant territory. 

Life in garrison there must have been almost insup- 
portably wearisome. The days came and went in the 
same dreary monotony, with no exciting adventures, no 
sense of usefulness, no opportunities for progress, no 

23 



24 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

prospect of promotion. The earnest spirit of Captain 
Grant soon revolted from such a career ; and resigning 
his commission, in July, 1854, he turned his attention to 
the more attractive and remunerative employments of 
civil life. Returning to the States., he resided for a short 
time in the vicinity of Saint Louis. Mo. 

Having previously married Miss Dent, of that city, he 
took a small farm, at a short distance from its crowded 
streets, and engaged in the labors of a practical farmer. 
He worked hard, sparing himself no toil, and indulging 
in no luxuries : but he was not a trained farmer ; his 
military education had not given him those habits of 
close calculation, and of attention to the minutest details 
of economy, so essential to one who, from the culture of 
the soil, would gain his bread. He soon became satis- 
fied that farming was not his vocation, and entered into 
mercantile life under very favorable auspices. 

He formed a partnership with a younger brother in the 
leather-business, commencing operations in 1860, in the 
city of Galena, 111. His brother was practically acquainted 
with the business ; and aided by the energy, the sobriety, 
and the unwearied industry of Ulysses, the firm soon 
became widely known and very prosperous. The integ- 
rity of both the partners was such, that, to an unusual 
degree, they enjoyed public confidence. 

Captain Grant never forgot that he was a United-States 
soldier, that he had been educated under the patronage 
of the stars and the stripes ; and ho ever recognized his 
duty to abandon all the tranquillity of civil and domestic 
life, should his country claim his services. When infa- 
mous Rebellion fired upon our national flag, and smote 
the walls of Sumter with insulting blows, the spirit of 
Captain Grant was roused to its utmost intensity. He 



THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 25 

said to a friend, in those calm tones of deliberation which 
ever marked the man, — 

" Uncle Sam has educated me for the army. Though 
I have served him through one war, I do not feel that I 
have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge 
my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword, 
and see Uncle Sam through this war too." 

Going into the streets of Galena, he speedily raised a 
company of volunteers. Ambitious only of being their 
captain, he led them in person to Springfield, and ten- 
dered his and their services to the governor of the State. 
His plain, straight-forward demeanor and unaffected zeal 
so impressed Governor Yates that he wished to secure 
his co-operation in the volunteer organization then form- 
ing for government service. He was accordingly assigned 
a desk in the executive office. His familiarity with mili- 
tary regulations and all the routine of military life ena- 
bled him to render invaluable service in the department 
of the adjutant-general. 

But it was very evident that his qualities as a military 
commander were of so high an order that he could not 
be spared from active service in the field. It was also 
his own wish that he might be engaged in those duties 
for which his military experience and education so emi- 
nently fitted him. He was first assigned the command 
of several camps of organization, which were being formed 
at different points. The Twenty-first Regiment of Illi- 
nois Volunteers, through peculiar circumstances, had 
become very much demoralized. Governor Yates was 
anxious to find an efficient officer to assume the com- 
mand. He offered the colonelcy to Captain Grant. The 
offer was promptly accepted ; and his commission was 
dated from the 15th of June, 1861. 



26 LIFE OF, GENERAL GRANT. 

Under his efficient action the regiment, which had 
become greatly weakened in numbers, was in ten days 
brought up to its maximum of a thousand men, and was 
raised to a state of discipline rarely attained in the vol- 
unteer service. The regiment was soon taken across the 
Mississippi to guard the Hannibal and Hudson Railroad, 
which crossed the northern part of the State of Missouri 
to the border of Kansas. General John Pope was then 
in command of the district of North Missouri. There 
were various movements made by Colonel Grant's regi 
ment, of local importance, but which did not attract 
public attention ; but, in all these, Colonel Grant distin 
guished himself as a regimental commander in the field. 
His success in organizing and disciplining his regiment 
was signal. He was already an experienced officer ; for 
he had served for fifteen \ears in the regular army, as 
lieutenant and captain, and had seen much hard fighting. 

In August, 1861, he was detached from his regiment, 
and promoted to the rank of brigadier-general ; and was 
placed in command of the very important post at Cairo, 
at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This 
post commanded the mouths of the two rivers, and con- 
trolled wide reaches of the Missouri and the Illinois shores. 
Kentucky had assumed a nominal neutrality ; and the 
rebels found much sympathy on the soil of that State, 
and rendezvoused there in large numbers for their 
attacks upon the national flag. 

Treason's foul banner was unfurled at Paducah, an 
important point at the mouth of the Tennessee River. 
General Grant promptly seized upon the post, trampling 
the traitorous banner in the dust, and unfurling the stars 
and the stripes. He then advanced and occupied Smith- 
land, at the mouth of the Cumberland River ; and thus 



THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 27 

blockaded the entrance -to, or the emergence from, the 
rebel States by those important streams. His military 
eye had selected these points as bases of future military 
operations. 

The rebels had assembled in great force on the bluff at 
Columbus, a few miles down the Mississippi River, on the 
Kentucky shore. They thus, with their heavy batteries, 
commanded the stream, and were preparing to send a 
force across the river to Belmont. The point upon which 
this insignificant hamlet was situated, on the Missouri 
shore, was low, and was commanded by the bluffs on 
the Kentucky shore, where the rebel General Polk had 
planted very formidable batteries, and had gathered a 
force which was rapidly increasing, and which already 
numbered twenty thousand men. 

The rebel General Price was fronting a small army 
under General Fremont in south-west Missouri, and was 
eagerly awaiting re-enforcements, that he might attack 
the small band of national troops with certainty of suc- 
cess. Colonel Oglesby had been despatched to attack 
Jeff. Thompson, who was on the St. Francis River, hasten- 
ing with re-enforcements to General Price. General 
Polk was rapidly sending troops across the river, and 
establishing them in camp at Belmont, that he might 
soon be able to push forward a force into south-western 
Missouri, sufficient to crush the little band under Colonel 
Oglesby; and then, effecting a' junction with General 
Price, to overwhelnr the troops under General Fremont, 
— or rather, at that time, under General Hunter. 

Such, in brief, was the object of the rendezvous at Bel- 
mont. It was a sagacious scheme, and promised efficient 
results. General Grant resolved, if possible, to break up 
the encampment, scatter its forces, and capture its guns. 



28 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Ever though another encampment should immediately he 
formed, the delay of a few days would be very important. 

It was a perilous adventure. The rebels were in great 
force, and with heavy batteries on the bluff which com- 
manded Belmont. They had twice as many men in the 
camp at Belmont as General Grant could take to attack 
the fort. They had gunboats and transports with which 
they could rapidly send re-enforcements across the river. 
But General Grant trusted to take them by surprise, 
bewilder them by a sudden and very impetuous assault, 
and then, having destroyed their camp, to retreat to his 
boats and return to Cairo. In order to bewilder the 
enemy still more, and to prevent him from sending large 
re-enforcements from Columbus, he ordered feints to be 
made upon the garrison there. General C. F. Smith 
marched out from Paducah, which was about twenty miles 
east of Columbus, to attack the garrison in the rear. At 
the same time, a small force was sent across the river 
from Cairo to the Kentucky shore, to co-operate in the 
movement. Thus, perilous as the adventure was, every 
precautionary measure was adopted to secure success. 

On the evening of Nov. 6, General Grant in person, 
with three thousand one hundred and fourteen men, em- 
barked on transports, and, convoyed by two gunboats, 
commenced the descent of the river. The night was 
intensely dark. Heavy clouds obscured the sky, and a 
dense fog rested upon the forest-fringed and solitary 
stream. Very cautiously and slowly the little fleet moved 
in the gloom, and it was eight o'clock in the morning 
before the designated point of debarkation was reached. 
This was about three miles above Columbus, just beyond 
the range of its heavy guns. 

The troops were speedily landed ; and the gunboats 



THE BATTLE OF BELMONT, 29 

gallantly steamed down the river a couple of miles farther, 
and opened fire upon the rebel batteries. The troops 
were immediately formed in line of march, and advanced 
as fast as possible towards the fort at Belmont. They 
had a distance of three miles to traverse, through the 
woods and clearings of a very rough country. On the 
road, they encountered at several points serious oppo 
sition, but they fought their way through. 

The rebels at Columbus had witnessed the landing ; and 
General Grant soon beheld transports, crowded with troops, 
crossing the stream to the Missouri shore. Four regi- 
ments were speedily sent across. Fortunately for the 
national troops, the rebels at Belmont had felt so secure 
under the guns of Columbus that they had not fortified 
their position with earth-works of any great strength. 
They had, however, constructed a rude sort of abatis, by 
felling about twenty acres of the forest directly in front of 
their camp. This proved a very serious impediment to 
the advance of our troops. 

The rebels, thus protected, and with re-enforcements 
every moment coming to their aid, fought desperately. 
As our troops struggled through the prostrate forest, im- 
peded by the trunks and interlacing branches of the trees, 
a storm of grape-shot and bullets was hurled into their 
bosoms. A rebel battery, upon an eminence, caused great 
carnage by its rapid anil accurate discharge of grape-shot 
and shell. The heavy guns of Columbus also took part in 
the deadly strife. Now and then was heard, above the roar 
of the battle, the deep boom of a distant gun of heaviest 
calibre ; and an enormous shell came shrieking through 
the air, and, dropping in the midst of the struggling pa- 
triot troops, exploded with terribly destructive power. 

All - officers and men — were alike exposed. General 



30 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Grant had his horse shot under him. General McCler- 
nand lost three horses, and a bullet was flattened against 
the pistol in his holster. But, heroically, the patriots 
forced their way from stump to stump, until after a 
struggle of two hours, in which many perished, they had 
crossed the abatis. The order was then given to charge. 

It is estimated that there were from six to eight thou- 
sand in the camp. There were three thousand in a semi- 
circle rushing upon them, frenzied by the excitement of 
battle, and uttering shouts which rent the skies. The 
contending hosts were soon mingled in apparently inex- 
tricable confusion, grappling hand to hand in the deadly 
struggle. The rebels broke and fled ; and the cry of on- 
set gave place to the shout of victory which burst from 
three thousand lips as the stars and stripes were proudly 
unfurled over the conquered fort. Perhaps the rebels 
were the more ready to abandon the field from the con- 
sciousness that the batteries at Columbus would immedi- 
ately disperse their assailants. 

It was a glorious victory, but a victory which required 
an immediate retreat. It was manifest that the guns of 
Columbus would be turned upon the fort as soon as it 
was evident that the rebels had abandoned it. From the 
garrison at Columbus re-enforcements were being rapidly 
pushed across the river, to cut off the retreat of the vic- 
tors. Generxl Grant had no baggage-wagons with which 
to remove the camp equipage he had captured. The torch 
was consequently immediately applied to every thing that 
would burn. The fort, as we have mentioned, was on a 
gentle eminence ; and the flames soon enveloped the whole 
hill-top. 

The guns of Columbus were now brought to bear upon 
the audacious assailants. But the victors did not remain 



THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 31 

to enc3unter the fire. Their end had been attained, and, 
thus far, their expedition had been an en 'ire success. The 
fort had been utterly destroyed, and the rebels had been 
routed and scattered with great loss. But the peril of 
the little band of patriots was now greater than ever. 
Numerous re-enforcernents had crossed the river, under 
whose protection the discomfited rebels had rallied ; and 
they now prepared to cut off the retreat of the patriots to 
their gunboats. But no one thought of surrender. The 
spirit of the leader animated the whole band. As an of- 
ficer rode up to General Grant, and announced with no 
little excitement, "We are surrounded!" the general 
calmly replied, " Very well : we must cut our way out as 
we cut our way in. We have whipped them once, and I 
think we can do it again." 

The patriot troops, made bold by their victory, cut their 
way through their foes, consisting of thirteen regiments 
of infantry and two squadrons of cavalry. The patriots 
had four six-pounder field-guns and two twelve-pound 
howitzers. These were admirably handled by experienced 
gunners, causing great carnage in the concentrated ranks 
of the foe. 

According to the rebel account given in " The Mem- 
phis Appeal" of Nov. 12, General Pillow in person, at 
the head of his troops, charged the patriots three times 
with the utmost determination. Three times the rebels 
were repulsed, leaving the ground strewn with their dead. 
With slow but resistless steps, the national troops pressed 
on, until, just before sundown, they reached their trans- 
ports. The gunboats opened fire upon the pursuing 
rebels, keeping them at a distance. They threw terrible 
missiles with great rapidity and accuracy; and, under the 
protection of this fire, the troops were safely re-embarked. 



32 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Grant, when the main body was on the boats, 
rode back with a single staff- officer to withdraw a bat- 
talion which he had left as a rear-guard. But, in the con- 
fusion of the hour, these men, inexperienced in military 
discipline, had withdrawn without orders. General Grant 
was thus entirely outside of his own lines ; aAd, as he 
ascended a knoll, he saw the whole rebel force directly 
before him. Many of these troops were in a corn-field, 
not fifty yards from where the general stood. They were 
all pressing forward eagerly, taking advantage of such 
protection as the forest or the inequalities of the ground 
afforded them, seeking a chance to fire upon the troops 
who crowded the decks of the transports. The general 
wore the overcoat of a private, and was not recognized as 
an officer. General Polk, however, saw him as he sat 
upon his horse, and, pointing him out to his men, said, 
" There's a Yankee : try your aim at him." But the men 
were so eager to get within gunshot of the transports 
that no one fired at him. The general then turned his 
horse, and rode rapidly back to the boats. It was near 
sundown. The rebels, with rapidly-increasing re-enforce- 
ments, were now pressing on as skirmishers, and were 
firing upon the boats from every protecting rock and tree. 
A plank was put out for the general ; and, under a heavy 
musketry fire, he trotted his horse across it. 

But, in the retreat through the pathless forest, amidst 
the tumult of battle, one regiment — the 27th Illinois — 
had been lost. The foe, swarming along the river banks, 
had become so numerous that it was not safe any longer 
to await the arrival of the regiment. There was every 
reason to fear that it had been cut off and captured. 
The boats now commenced the return. The current of 
the river was rapid, the boats heavily laden ; and their 



THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. 33 

progress was necessarily slow. Twilight was fading away 
on the dark river. Many thousand men were running 
along through the forest on the shore, firing incessantly 
upon the boats as they could get opportunity. The gun- 
boats were dropping continually their heavy shells into 
the forest, while the sharp-shooters on board the trans- 
ports allowed no rebel upon the banks to expose himself 
with impunity. The scene presented at this hour was 
picturesque in the extreme, with the continued flash and 
roar of musketry and artillery from the river and the 
forest. 

But soon the increasing speed of the boats, and the 
increasing darkness, rendered all further pursuit impos- 
sible. The storm of war ceased ; but its terrible ravages 
were left behind in the mutilated, the dying, and the 
dead, who strewed the ground. General Grant lost four 
hundred and eighty-five of his gallant band in killed, 
wounded, and missing. One hundred and twenty-five of 
his wounded fell into the hands of the rebels. Such was 
the price of the victory, — a sad price when we reflect that 
every one, probably, of these nearly five hundred men had 
friends who loved him, and that in five hundred homes 
bitter tears were shed and hearts were wrung with 
anguish. But such is war, such its necessary sacrifices. 
In a military point of view, the victory was worth far 
more than it cost. General Grant took also one hundred 
and fifty prisoners and two guns. Four guns that he 
had captured, but could not remove, were spiked. The 
rebels lost six hundred and forty-two in killed and 
wounded, and were so alarmed by the boldness and im- 
petuosity of the assault that, apprehensive of an attack 
upon Columbus, they kept their troops concentrated 
there. 

3 



34 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

As our heroic little band slowly ascended the river, 
their spirits were saddened by the loss of the Illinois regi- 
ment, which was commanded by Colonel Buford, who 
had greatly distinguished himself by his bravery during 
the battle. They had, however, ascended but a few 
miles when they were signalled from the Missouri shore. 
There they found the lost regiment. A shout of joy 
burst from their lips, which echoed far and wide along 
the dark banks of the river. Colonel Buford, having lost 
his way in the intricacies of the forest, and being sepa- 
rated from his associates, had very sagaciously evaded 
the enemy, and reached a point of the Mississippi where 
his troops could be taken on board. The expedition now 
returned rejoicing to Cairo. 

General Grant is emphatically a man of action, not 
of words. There was no very full explanation, at the 
time, of the object of the enterprise, and of the reasons 
which controlled its tactical movements. Consequently 
there was not then ascribed to the achievement the merit 
which it deserved. And, though there is not in the 
narrative now given any special difference from former 
accounts, subsequent revelations have explained some 
things which were previously obscure. The victory of 
Belmont was one of the very important events at the 
commencement of the war. It inspired our troops with 
confidence in themselves ; and General Grant on that 
occasion displayed that coolness and indomitable per- 
sistence which so characterized him throughout the 
whole of our eventful struggle. It was then that public 
attention began to be directed to him. 



CHAPTEE III. 



THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY, AND THE MARCH TO 
DONELSON. 

The Military Line of the Rebels. — The Strategic Importance of the 
Posts. — General Grant's, Views. — The Co-operation of Commodore 
Foote.— The Naval and Land Force. — Plan of Attack. — The Battle 
and Capture of Fort Henry. — Preparation for the Attack upon 
Donelson. — Strength of the "Works. — Peril of the Attack. 




HE rebels were well aware of the impor- 
tance of Columbus, which gave them en- 
tire command of the river from that point 
to its mouth. They soon collected one 
hundred and forty guns upon its bluff, and 
surrounded them with such intrenchments as rendered 
the post, in their view, impregnable. They had also estab- 
lished themselves in very considerable force at Fort 
Henry, on the Tennessee River; at Fort Donelson, on the 
Cumberland ; and at Bowling Green, on the Big Barren, 
in Central Kentucky. This military line — running from 
east to west, a distance of nearly two hundred miles — 
was intended to prevent the national army from advancing 
into the south either by land or by water. The Cumber- 
land River, whose headwaters are formed on the Cumber- 
land Mountains, and the Tennessee River, which takes 
its rise far south, among the highlands of Mississippi and 
Alabama, approach within twelve miles of" each other at 

35 



36 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the points selected for Fort Donelson on the one, and for 
Fort Henry on the other. 

General Grant clearly discerned the importance, in a 
strategic point of view, of these posts on the Tennessee 
and the Cumberland, which the enemy had so skilfully 
chosen, and had so strongly fortified. 

God does not confer upon any man all gifts. He had 
given General Grant a remarkably clear head ; but he 
had not conferred upon him a voluble tongue. In the 
eloquence of action he excelled. In the eloquence of 
words he failed. Almost instinctively, he discerned the 
elements of military success ; but he had not the power 
of forcibly conveying his ideas to other minds. Deeply 
impressed with the importance of the capture of the 
Forts Henry and Donelson, he visited General Halleck 
at St. Louis, — then in command of the department of 
Missouri, — and laconically asked permission to undertake 
the enterprise. General Halleck abruptly refused. Gen- 
eral Grant was not prepared to support his plans with 
arguments ; and, somewhat wounded in feeling by the 
brusque reception he had met, returned to Cairo. 

Still impressed with the importance of the measure, a 
few days after his return to his post, notwithstanding the 
repulse he had encountered, he wrote to General Halleck 
as follows : — 

" In view of the large force now concentrating in this 
district, and the present feasibility of the plan, I would 
respectfully suggest the propriety of subduing Fort 
Henry, near the Kentucky and Tennessee line, and hold- 
ing the position. If this is not done soon, there is little 
doubt that the defences upon the Tennessee and Cum- 
berland Rivers will be materially strengthened. From 
Fort Henry it will be easy to operate, either on the Cum- 



CAPTUBE OF FORT HENHY. 37 

berland (only twelve miles distant), Memphis, or Colum- 
bus. It will, besides, have a moral effect upon our troops, 
to advance thence towards the rebel States. The ad- 
vantages of this movement are as perceptible to the gene- 
ral commanding as to myself: therefore further state- 
ments are unnecessary." 

Commodore Foote was then in command of the gun- 
boat fleet, which had been ^gathered with great vigor at 
Cairo. Some of these boats were iron-clad, and carrying 
heavy guns, yet requiring but a light draft of water, were 
capable of very efficient service. Commodore Foote was 
in entire accord with General Grant upon the policy of 
attacking the forts. He wrote to General Halleck, on the 
28th of January, as follows : — 

" Commanding-General Grant and myself are of opin- 
ion that Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, can be car- 
ried with four iron-clad gunboats, and troops permanently 
to occupy. " 

Two days after, they received the desired permission. 
This was on the 80th of January. The energies of both 
of these extraordinary men, who co-operated like brothers 
iu the herculean enterprise, were so roused that in three 
days the combined naval and land expedition started 
from Cairo. The land force was under the command of 
General Grant ; the naval armament was conducted by 
Commodore — subsequently Rear- Admiral — A. H. Foote. 

The fleet consisted of seven gunboats, four only of which 
were iron-clad. The land force embraced seventeen 
thousand men, who were conveyed by transports. 

The little squadron steamed rapidly up the Ohio River 
about forty miles, to the mouth of the Tennessee ; and 
thence up that river nearly ninety miles, till it approached 
the fort. Three gunboats then slowly ascended the 



38 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

stream., shelling the forest on each side to ascertain if 
there were any concealed batteries, and advanced near 
enough to the fort to throw into it a few shells. This 
drew the fire of the foe, and enabled Commodore Foote to 
judge of the calibre of the rebel guns and of their range. 
In performing this interesting experiment, a thirty-two 
pound shot passed through " The Essex," though without 
doing any essential damage. 

Fort Henry was on the eastern bank of the river, and, 
garrisoned by twenty-eight hundred men, was under the 
command of General Tilghman. It was a strong field- 
work, with bastioned front, and mounted seventeen guns. 
Traverses were formed of sand-bags between the guns. 
Outside of the fort there was an entrenched camp, and 
beyond this an extended line of rifle-pits. Great care 
had been taken to protect the fort from assault, both on 
the side of the river and on that of the land. A commu- 
nication, called the Dover Koad, connected Fort Henry 
with Fort Donelson, at the distance of twelve miles, on 
the left bank of the Cumberland. 

The troops were landed about four miles below the 
fort. They could not all be conveyed in the transport at ' 
once, and the boats were sent back to Cairo for those 
which were left behind. It was not until near midnight on 
the 5th, the rain then falling in torrents, that all the troops 
were put on shore. On the west bank of the stream, upon 
some heights which commanded Fort Henry, the rebels 
were in possession of another stronghold, called Fort 
Heiman. 

The plan of operation was as follows: Commodore 
Foote, with the gunboats, was to attack the fort from the 
river. It was confidently hoped that, with his powerful 
ordnance, throwing both solid shot and shell, he would 



CAPTURE OF FOET HENRY. 39 

be able to drive the foe from the fort. Two brigades 
were' to be sent, under General C. F. Smith, to seize the 
heights occupied by Fort Heiman. General McClernand, 
in command of the remainder of the national forces, was 
to take a circuitous march through the woods, so as to get 
into the rear of the foe, and to cut off their retreat 
through the Dover Road. If necessary, after the works 
had been bombarded for a sufficient length of time, Gen- 
eral McQlernand's force was to take them by storm. 
Commodore Foote, having great confidence in the power 
of his gunboats, urged that the land-force should start an 
hour before the boats. But as the troops had, as they 
supposed, but a two-hours' march before them, it seemed 
impossible but that they could reach their position in 
ample time. Still Commodore Foote, as he informed the 
writer, said to General Grant pleasantly, as his gunboats 
pushed from the shore, " I shall take the fort before your 
forces get there." 

It was half-past ten o'clock in the morning of Feb. 6, 
1862, when the little fleet got under way, and steamed 
gallantly up the river to encounter the guns of the fort. 
Commodore Foote led, in the flag-ship " Cincinnati," the 
three remaining iron-clads keeping in a line abreast of him. 
The three wooden boats followed, a short distance in the 
rear, also abreast. Their mailed companions thus served 
as a rampart for them, and they were to throw their 
shells over the boats in advance. The Commodore gave 
the following very judicious order : — 

" Do not attempt rapid firing, but take deliberate aim. 
Rapid firing wastes ammunition, heats the guns, throws 
away shct in their wild range, and encourages the enemy 
with a fire which proves to be ineffectual." 

When the gallant little fleet had approached to within a 



4) LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

mile and a quarter of the fort, while still keeping steadily 
underway, the boats opened a vigorous, accurate, deadly 
lire. Every shot accomplished its mission, ploughing 
through the earthworks, knocking about the sand-bags and 
gabions, dismounting the guns, and scattering the gun- 
ners. One eighty-pound shell killed or wounded every 
person at one of the rebel guns. One of the rifled can- 
non of the rebels burst, creating fearful carnage and 
dismay. While the Commodore kept up this tremendous 
and unceasing fire, his boats were continually approach- 
ing nearer to the forts, until it seemed as though it were 
his intention to grapple the foe and to take him by storm. 
The fire of the enemy was much less effectual. The tar- 
gets at which he aimed were small, and were continually 
changing their position. The shots which struck the 
heavily-armed bows of the iron-clads glanced off harm- 
lessly. Thus, for an hour, the battle raged with unequal 
results, but with equal desperation on either side. 

At length a twenty-four pound shot struck the plated 
"Essex" upon a weak spot, and pierced one of the 
boilers. The scalding steam instantly filled the boat, 
dreadfully scalding the crew. As the rebels saw the 
crippled steamer drift helplessly down the stream, their 
waning courage was for a moment revived, and they 
raised a feeble shout of triumph. But, unfalteringly, the 
remaining ships still pressed on, until they were within 
six hundred feet of the muzzles of the foe. Every shot 
was so destructive that soon but four of the rebel guns could 
be brought to bear upon the fleet. 

The garrison now raised the white flag of surrender ; 
but, buried in the blended smoke of the combatants, it 
was for some time not seen, and shot and shell from the 
fleet mercilessly swept the fortress. The rebels could 



CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY. 41 

endure this no longer, and in wild confusion they fled. 
As soon as the Commodore perceived that his fire was not 
returned, he signalled to cease firing ; and a perfect calm 
succeeded the roar of battle. 

Then came that most exciting shout which can burst 
from human lips, — the shout of victory. A boat was 
sent on shore ; and the stars and stripes waved proudly in 
the breeze over the ramparts which treason's banner had 
degraded. Most of the garrison escaped. Sixty-three, 
with their commanding officer, General Tilghman, were 
captured. 

It was eight miles from the place of landing, by the 
circuitous route through the woods, to the point on the 
Dover Road where General Grant's troops were to cut off 
the retreat of the garrison. There had been very heavy 
rains. The country, low and marshy, was now very exten- 
sively flooded. Several streams had to be bridged. It 
was not until an hour after the surrender of the fort 
that General Grant arrived with his advance guard. The 
garrison had escaped by the Dover Road, across to Fort 
Donelson, leaving behind them only the heavy guns. It 
appears, from General Tilghman's report, that he had no 
hope to defend the fort against the gunboats ; and that he 
fought only with the endeavor to retard the capture until 
he could send off the main body of his troops, with as 
much of the materiel as they could take with them. 
Commodore Foote lost five men killed, and about fifty 
wounded. The gunboat " Cincinnati " was struck by 
thirty-one shots. " The Essex " was struck fifteen times. 
The other two armored vessels received, one six, and the 
other seven shots. The rebels reported five killed and 
sixteen wounded. All but enough to work the guns had 
been sent out of the fort to a station about two miles 



42 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

off, from which they were ordered to retreat upon Fort 
Donelson. 

The captured fort and prisoners were turned over to 
the army. The cavalry pursued the retreating foe a 
short distance towards Fort Donelson, when it was found 
that the enemy had got too far in advance, and the pur- 
suit was relinquished. General Grant telegraphed to 
Gen jral Halleck, — 

" Fort Henry is ours. Gunboats silenced the batteries 
before the investment was completed. I shall take and 
destroy Fort Donelson on the 8th, and return to Fort 
Henry." 

The capture of Fort Henry gave great animation to 
the national troops. The three great avenues to the 
rebel States by water were through the Mississippi, the 
Tennessee, and the Cumberland Rivers. The rebels had 
barricaded the Mississippi, at Columbus, with fortifica- 
tions deemed impregnable. The Tennessee was barri- 
caded at Fort Henry, and the Cumberland at Fort Donel- 
son. But the rebel line was now pierced. Fort Henry 
had fallen. The Tennessee was open to our gunboats; 
and, wherever they could go, our army could follow. 

General Grant now prepared for a vigorous movement 
on Donelson. The rebels, alarmed by their defeat on the 
Tennessee, gathered all their strength for the defence of 
the Cumberland. The troops which had garrisoned the 
works at Fort Henry, variously estimated at from three 
to seven thousand, joined the garrison on the Cumber- 
land. The position there was very strong, and the works 
elaborate. The fortress, including many acres of land, 
was placed upon a ragged, rocky eminence, on a bend of 
the river, a little below the town of Dover. This elevated 
plateau commanded the stream, both north and south, as 
far as shot could be thrown. 



THE MARCH TO DONELSON. 43 

< 

The engineers who had constructed these works, and 
had raised over them the banners of treason, had been 
well taught in their art at the military school of West 
Point. Two water-batteries at the river's edge, of twelve 
guns, throwing thirty-two and sixty-four pound shot, 
swept the stream, protected by earthworks which no ball 
could penetrate. Back of these batteries, the bluff rose 
quite precipitately to an elevation of nearly a hundred 
feet, when it spread off into a broad plateau of more 
than a hundred acres, densely wooded, and cut up by 
ravines and gullies. A better position for defence Nature 
could scarcely have created. Here an army of twenty 
thousand determined men was stationed. Skilful engi- 
neers had erected ramparts and bastions and rifle-pits, 
and had so surrounded them with impervious abatis of 
felled trees as to render approach, even unopposed, ex- 
tremely difficult. The precipitous nature of the hill 
itself, at many points, rendered the ascent almost impossi- 
ble. Upon every commanding position batteries frowned. 
Thus Donelson was a cluster of forts surrounding a vast 
central fortress. General Buckner was in command of 
the post ; but, in view of the impending danger, General 
Pillow was sent with heavy re-enforcements from Colum- 
bus, and, as the senior officer, superseded Buckner in 
command. Immediately after the fall of Fort Henry, 
General Floyd was despatched with still additional re- 
enforcements ; and this man, of unenviable notoriety, 
assumed the command. 

The fall of Donelson would leave the path open to 
Nashville ; and therefore the Confederate Government 
roused all its energies for its defence. Guns, ammuni- 
tion, and all other materiel of war, were sent in great 
abundance down the river to Nashville ; and the garri- 



44 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

son worked d xy and night, in preparation for a desperate 
resistance. 

General Grant was deeply impressed with the necessity 
of an immediate attack. He was aware that large re- 
enforcements would be continually poured into the for- 
tress, and that the defensive works would rapidly increase 
in strength. The day after the capture of Fort Henry, 
orders were issued for the whole military force there, 
infantry and cavalry, to be ready to move with the dawn 
of the next morning to take Fort Donelson. They were 
to advance in the lightest marching order, with but two 
days' rations in their haversacks. 

But the rain had for some time been falling in tor- 
rents. All the streams were swollen into turbid floods. 
The low grounds were inundated. The only road of 
advance was speedily trampled into deep mire, through 
which it was impossible to drag the baggage or the artil- 
lery. General Grant wrote, — 

" At present we are perfectly locked in. The banks 
are higher at the water's edge than further back, leaving 
a wide margin of lower land to bridge over, before any 
thing can be done inland. I contemplated taking Fort 
Donelson to-day, with infantry and cavalry alone ; but 
all my troops may be kept busily engaged in saving what 
we now have from the rapidly-rising water." 

This delay was not all a loss. It is doubtful whetliei* 
the force then at the command of General Grant could 
have taken the fort under circumstances so adverse. The 
most vigorous measures were adopted to secure re-enforce- 
ments. The gunboats, which had gallantly run up the 
Tennessee River as far as Florence, Ala., steamed down 
the Tennessee and up the Cumberland, to co-operate in 
the assault. The gunboats needed some repairs before 



THE MARCH TO DONELSON. 45 

they would be prepared for another battle. Commodore 
Foote repaired to Cairo, and rapidly made ready to ascend 
the Cumberland, convoying six regiments of troops in 
transports. These were all to be landed on the western 
banks of the Cumberland, just beyond reach of the guns 
of the fort. On the 11th, General McClernand, who by 
his gallantry at Belmont had won from General Grant 
the highest commendation, as " proving, by his coolness 
and courage, that he was a soldier as well as a states- 
man," moved out three or four miles with his division, 
from Fort Henry towards Fort Donelson. 

Early on the morning of the 12th, General Grant, with 
the main column, fifteen thousand strong, marched from 
Fort Henry. Eight light batteries accompanied the expe- 
dition. They took neither tents nor baggage, and but 
few wagons followed in their train. The soldiers were 
supplied with such rations only as they could carry in 
their haversacks. Each man was furnished with forty 
rounds of ammunition. The necessary supplies for the 
great conflict were to be sent from Cairo up the Cumber- 
land, and, with the six regiments in the transports, were 
to be landed, under protection of the gunboats, within 
two or three miles of the fort. 

The distance, as we have mentioned, between Henry 
and Donelson, was but twelve miles. About mid-day, 
Grant's little army came within sight of the rebel lines. 
His whole force for the attack did not exceed the force he 
was to assail, in the strongest position, and protected 
by works which the most skilful engineers had reared. 
Twenty thousand stood behind those ramparts, while 
sixty-five pieces of artillery frowned from the command- 
ing heights. No ordinary courage could have ventured 
upon the attack. No ordinary sagacity and energy could 



46 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

have led to a successful result. But the genius of Grant 
and the heroism of his soldiers, as will be seen in the 
next chapter, triumphed over all these obstacles. 

Much has been said respecting the origin of the prop- 
osition to take possession of the Cumberland and Ten- 
nessee Rivers. Probably the idea occurred to many 
persons of military intelligence about the same time. 
General Fremont urged it unavailingly upon the depart- 
ment at Washington, when the rivers could have been 
taken without sacrifice of life. As soon as General Grant 
was placed in power, he appreciated the importance of 
the movement, and suggested the plan to General Hal- 
leck ; but his suggestions were not listened to. It is 
probable that General Grant then proposed the plan to 
Admiral Foote ; for the Admiral, after General Grant 
had spoken to General Halleck upon the subject, tele- 
graphed to this latter officer, " General Grant and myself 
are of opinion that Fort Henry and Tennessee River can 
be carried," &c. General Halleck, perhaps recognizing 
General Grant as the originator of the plan, sent the 
orders to him to make the movement under convoy of 
the flotilla, and directed him to show to Admiral Foote 
his or iers. 




CHAPTER IV. 

THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 

The March to Donelson. — Investment of the Fort. — The Bivouac. — 
Commencement of the Conflict. — The Wintry Storm. — Action of the 
Gunboats. — The Repulse. — Interview between Foote and Grant. — 
Desperation of the Foe. — The Attempt to Escape. — Energy and Sa- 
gacity of Grant. — The Final Conflict. — The Capture and its Results. 

HE two divisions of General Grant's army 
were under General John A. McClernand 
and General C. F. Smith. General Lewis 
Wallace was left with a small force in com- 
mand at Fort Henry. It was a serene and 
sunny morning as they commenced their march ; and, as 
the roads were now dry and solid, it was a pleasant ex- 
cursion of four hours which brought them to the outworks 
of the foe. Here General Grant brought his force into 
position, enclosing the fort with an almost unbroken semi- 
circular line, extending from Hickman's Creek on the 
north to a point near Dover on the south. 

The enemy's defences were so concealed by the forest 
and the thick underbrush, and the ground was so broken 
by gullies and ravines, that it was necessary to proceed 
with the utmost caution. All the afternoon was spent in 
this operation, during which there were many very spirited 
engagements with the foe. Whenever any suspicious 
spot was reached, a few shells were thrown into it, fre- 

47 



48 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

quently awakening a very emphatic response. Before 
nightfall the fort was pretty effectually invested. General 
Grant's left rested upon Hickman's Creek, by which he 
could communicate with his transports and gunboats. 
The only possible escape for the foe was by boats from 
Dover, up the river ; and but few could escape in that 
way. 

General Smith's division occupied the extreme left. 
General McClernand was placed upon the right, near the 
town of Dover. General Grant established his head- 
quarters near Smith's division, where he could be in easy 
communication with his transports and gunboats, which 
were hourly expected, but which had not yet arrived. A 
careful recomioissance had shown that the enemy was in 
such force, and his position was so strong, that the utmost 
caution would be necessary in conducting the assault. 

The night had been beautiful, with a brilliant moon 
and a cloudless sky ; and the air was as serene and bland 
as in a summer eve. Neither party ventured to kindle 
camp-fires, as the light would surely serve as a target for 
the batteries of the other side. The combatants slept in ' 
peace, while no sound disturbed the chirping of the cricket 
or the pensive song of the night-bird. As in nature an 
unusual calm often precedes the earthquake, so did this 
night of quietude and repose prove to be the precursor 
of one of the most terrific tempests of war. 

The morning of the 13th dawned, warm and beautiful. 
Still no boom of cannon announced the arrival of the 
fleet. The centre of the line of investment was weak. 
It was to be filled by the troops which accompanied the 
gunboats. Until their arrival, and the land force could 
be aided by the efficient co-operation of the gunboats, it 
would be the height of imprudence to venture upon an 



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FORT IMINKLSON 













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CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSOX. 49 

attack. Still, all day long the forest echoed with explo- 
sions of artillery, as the opposing batteries exchanged 
shot and shell. Riflemen crept from tree to tree, and 
with unerring aim harassed the rebels at their guns. 
During the day there were several very severe and san- 
guinary battles, in which the national troops gradually 
drove in the outposts of the enemy, and gained important 
positions. Birge's celebrated riflemen did effectual ser- 
vice. With a weapon which threw a heavy, conical ball, 
they would strike with almost certain death any one who 
appeared within the distance of half-a mile. 

In the afternoon, one of the rebel breastworks was 
stormed with great gallantry. Three Illinois regiments, 
under Colonel Morrison, rushed, at the double-quick, 
down one declivity and up another two hundred feet 
high, upon the summit of which the redoubt was placed. 
They seemed to pay no more heed to the bullets which 
swept their ranks than if they had been so many rain- 
drops. The sun shone down brightly upon them, as if 
animating them to their heroic deed. Over stumps and 
felled trees, and the sharpened, intertwining branches of 
the abatis, they pressed on until within a few feet of the 
battery they wished to seize. Here their colonel fell, 
struck from his horse by a ball. The redoubt was crowded 
with rebel troops, who, in large numbers, had gathered 
for its defence ; and the heroic assailants were compelled 
to file off to the left, leaving their object unaccomplished. 
Many valuable lives were lost in this endeavor, which, 
though unavailing, was one of the most gallant of the ex- 
ploits of those days filled with acts of heroism. 

Thus passed Thursday the 13th. As night came on, 
the wind veered to the north, blowing with wintry chill, 
while clouds darkened the sky, and the cold rain began 

4 



50 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

to fall. The soldiers, shelterless, were soon soaked to the 
skin. The previous day had been so warm that many of 
these heroic but improvident men had thrown aside 
their overcoats and blankets, and in the darkness and the 
rain they could not be found. Soon the rain changed to 
sleet, and then to snow. No fire could be kindled, as 
they were in the midst of the batteries and sharpshooters 
of the enemy. The sufferings of that night were dread- 
ful. Through all its dismal hours the enemy kept up a 
deliberate fire, dropping shells here and there into the 
forest, at whatever points they thought their foes might 
be gathered. 

The national troops were cut off from the view of the 
river, by the bluff and the forest occupied by the rebels ; 
but, in the afternoon, the booming of heavy artillery an- 
nounced the arrival of at least a portion of the fleet. For 
a moment the desultory battling ceased, as a shout of joy 
burst from the lips of all the beleaguering host. It proved 
to be only one of the gunboats, the " Carondelet," which 
had arrived in advance of the transports. Heroically 
Lieutenant Walker, in command, ran his little iron-clad 
up the river, and engaged the hostile batteries. Most 
of the balls thrown from the rebel guns glanced harmless 
from the iron bows of the steamer. But one enormous 
missile, weighing a hundred and twenty-eight pounds, 
entered an open port-hole, and, wounding eight men, 
buried itself in the coal-bags which protected the boiler. 
During the short conflict " The Carondelet" threw over 
a hundred of her enormous shells, which, exploding with- 
in the water-batteries of the rebels, caused great devasta- 
tion. 

At midnight the remaining gunboats, with the transports, 
arrived. With the earliest dawn the disembarkation was 



CAPTURE OF FORT DOXELSOX. 51 

commenced; and by noon, these troops, ten thousand in 
number, were on the march through the forest to occupy 
their position in the centre of the line of investment. 
The ground was covered with two or three inches of snow, 
which was swept by a freezing, wintry wind from the 
north. It was nearly nightfall before the newly-arrived 
troops were established in their positions. The whole 
clay was passed in this movement, and in vigorous en- 
deavors to promote the comfort of the shelterless troops 
upon whom wintry cold had thus suddenly fallen. Still, 
during the day, a rambling fire of sharpshooters was kept 
up, with frequent discharges of artillery. 

In the afternoon, at three o'clock, six of the gunboats 
— four of which were iron-clad — opened fire upon the 
fort at a distance of but four hundred yards. The guns 
of the rebel water-batteries were well manned and ad- 
mirably placed, so that almost every shot struck its target. 
The crash of these heavy balls hurled against the iron 
mail of the boats, where they were often crumbled to 
powder, produced a ringing sound, which was distinctly 
heard above the thunders of the cannonade. One vessel 
alone received fifty-nine shots. Fifty-four men were killed 
or wounded. Commodore Foote, when standing with his 
hand upon the shoulder of the man at the wheel, was 
severely wounded by the same ball which cut lis com- 
panion in two. 

The conflict of an hour and a half proved that the bat- 
teries at Donelson were too strong to be silenced by the 
gunboats. It was hoped that the fire of the fleet would 
have been so successful as to have warranted an immediate 
assault by the whole body of troops on the land side. 
But, on the contrary, the enemy's fire had been so vigorous 
that nearly every boat had been more or less disabled, and 



52 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

but twelve guns could be brought to bear upon the foe. 
Under these circumstances the commodore was compelled 
to withdraw his boats. This was exceedingly discoura- 
ging. It was necessary to take the boats back to Cairo for 
repairs. And it would seem impossible that General 
Grant, with his troops buried in the lowlands of the forest, 
could storm heights where an almost equa. number of 
men were strongly intrenched. General Grant wrote 
that night, — 

" Appearances are that we shall have a protracted siege 
here. I fear the result of an attempt to carry the place 
by storm with new troops. I feel great confidence, how- 
ever, of ultimately reducing the place." 

Another night came, cold, dark, and freezing. A furi- 
ous storm wailed through the tree-tops, sifting down the 
snow upon the sleepless, shivering host there so nobly 
battling for the life of their country. General Grant 
seemed to be insensible to hunger, cold, or weariness. 
With few words, but with tireless action, he was every- 
where. Two hours after midnight, he received the fol- 
lowing communication from Commodore Foote, who was 
on board his flag- ship " St. Louis," severely wounded, and 
in great pain : — 

" Dear General, — Will you do me the favor to come on 
board at your earliest convenience ? as I am disabled from 
walking, by a contusion, and cannot possilly get to see 
you about the disposition of these vessels, all of which 
are more or less disabled." 

Before daylight the general was by the side of his 
wounded friend the commodore, who urged that Gen- 
eral Grant should remain as quiet as possible with the 
land force, until he could return with his repaired gun- 
boats to aid in the bombardment, or in a protracted siege, 
should that be necessary. 



CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSOX. 53 

But the enemy — alarmed by the fate of Fort Henry, 
and by the vigor and devastation of the assaults already 
made by sea and land, and conscious that re-enforcements 
would be sent, both of boats and troops, to make the invest- 
ment perfect — resolved to endeavor, without delay, to 
cut his way through our lines, and escape. The fire of 
the gunboats had proved more disastrous to them than 
was then known. 

It will be recollected that McClernand's division occu- 
pied the extreme right. The line here did not extend 
quite down to the river. Upon this point the foe pre- 
pared to strike their blow, hoping by the weight of nearly 
their whole combined force to crush our right, and thus 
to open an unobstructed road to Nashville. It was a well- 
devised scheme. It was with tremendous vigor under- 
taken. With still greater vigor it was defeated. 

While General Grant was conversing with the commo- 
dore on the flag-ship, in the earliest dawn of the morn- 
ing, the attack was made. The desperate assault fell first 
upon General Arthur's brigade. Heroically this handful 
of troops opposed an army, until compelled to retire with 
heavy loss. All of McClernand's troops were soon en- 
gaged. General Grant was four or five miles distant. It 
was not safe to weaken any other point of the line, as this 
might prove but a feint to cover a more impetuous as- 
sault elsewhere. General McClernand's men held their 
ground bravely, until their ammunition was exhausted ; 
then coolly retiring, they passed through the ranks of 
fresher troops to a spot still within the range of rebel 
musketry, where they refilled their cartridge-boxes. 

Twelve thousand men advanced, in three columns, to 
cut their way through the national lines. They so ar- 
ranged it that three or four regiments should attack each 



54 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

regiment of the Union troops. Slowly, and contesting 
every inch of ground, the patriots fell back. General 
Lewis Wallace was in command of the troops which oc- 
cupied the centre. General McClernand called to him for 
aid. Bat he had received orders to protect the centre, 
that the enemy might not effect a sortie there. Greatly 
embarrassed, as he listened to the increasing roar of the 
battle, he despatched a courier with all speed to the head- 
quarters of General Grant. But the general was absent, 
on the flag-boat of the commodore. During this delay, 
another and more urgent appeal came from General Mc- 
Clernand. 

" I am overpowered," he said : " my flank is turned. 
My whole division will soon inevitably be cut to pieces. 
The safety of the entire army is endangered." 

General Wallace could delay no longer. He vigorously 
brought up the centre to the support of the shattered left 
wing. But still the national troops were greatly outnum- 
bered ; and slowly they were compelled to fall back, 
though fighting with the utmost determination. Just 
then, as General Grant was returning to his headquar- 
ters from the flag-ship, he met an aid galloping up to in- 
form him of the assault. His sagacity immediately sug- 
gested to him the true state of affairs. Shrewdly sus- 
pecting that the rebels had concentrated nearly their 
whole force for an attack upon our left, he ordered Gen- 
eral C. F. Smith to hold his command in readiness for a 
vigorous assault upon the weakened right of the foe. 
Then riding rapidly forward, he soon reached the front 
where our troops were contending, and slowly yielding 
before fearful odds. 

Their ammunition w 7 as nearly exhausted. Very many 
officers had fallen. The foe was pressing forward with 



CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 55 

shouts of victory ; and a scene of awful disaster and con- 
fusion was presented to the eye. The right wing had 
been rolled back upon the centre, and seemed almost 
destroyed. Both parties were so exhausted that there 
was a moment's lull in the battle. We had taken a few 
prisoners. General Grant ordered their haversacks to be 
examined. They contained rations for three days. 

" They mean to cut their way out," said the general. 
" They have no idea of staying here to fight us. Which- 
ever party first attacks now will whip; and the rebels will 
have to be very quick if they beat me." 

He at once despatched orders for General Smith to 
make his attack with our left wing. He also sent a 
request to Admiral Foote, saying, — 

" A terrible conflict has ensued in my absence, which 
has demoralized a portion of my command ; and I think 
that the enemy is still more demoralized. If the gun- 
boats do not appear, it will re-assure the enemy, and still 
farther demoralize our troops. I must order a charge, to 
save appearances. I do not expect the gunboats to go 
into action." 

Two of the boats accordingly ran up the river and 
opened fire, throwing shells at long range into the 
enemy's camp. Generals McClernand and Wallace were 
informed of the attack to be made by General Smith upon 
the enemy's right, and were* ordered to renew the battle 
with the utmost determination, as soon as General Smith 
should commence his assault. The intelligent soldiers 
understood the movement, and were re-animated with 
hope. But so sure at that moment was the rebel Gen- 
eral Pillow that he had cut- his path of escape through 
our lines that he telegraphed to Nashville, " On the honor 
of a soldier , the day is ours." 



56 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Smith rapidly formed his column of attack. 
It consisted of the Second and Seventh Iowa and Fifty- 
second Indiana. He led the charge in person. It was 
one of the most heroic deeds, and one of the sublimest 
scenes, of the war. The rebels, flushed with victory, were 
bewildered and astounded to find themselves suddenly 
assailed by General Smith on their right, by Generals 
McClernand and Wallace on their left and centre, and 
by the gunboats in the river. The charging column of 
General Smith moved forward like the sweep of the tor- 
nado. The lines which were to oppose them were weak- 
ened ; and speedily their shouts announced to their com- 
rades, who were fighting two miles distant on their right, 
that they were within the intrenchments of the foe. 

As the rebels saw the stars and stripes floating over a 
portion of their bastions, their hearts sank within them. 
The glad sight seemed to animate the troops under the 
command of Generals McClernand and-JVallace to super- 
human efforts. They had rushed so impetuously forward 
that the two armies were mingled in the greatest confu- 
sion, often resulting in a hand-to-hand fight, — the assail- 
ants and the assailed seeking the shelter of the same 
tree. 

The conflict continued till night closed it. Bat every 
where the rebels were driven back. The national troops 
regained every inch of ground which they had lost. So 
signal was the victory, that another half-hour of daylight 
would have enabled General Smith to have passed the 
outworks, ttnd to have captured the fort. 

Thus terminated this day of dreadful battle. General 
Grant, who had been up all the preceding night, slept a few 
hours in a negro hut. General Smith, with his command, 
bivouacked on the frozen ground he had so gloriously 



CAPTURE OF FOKT DONELSON. 57 

won. The battle had swept over an extent of many miles. 
The wounded, the dying, and the dead were scattered 
far and wide upon the blood-stained snow. Groans of 
anguish ascended from the forest and the ravines ; and 
scenes of woe were witnessed over which angels might 
weep. 

There was but little sleep for either army that night. 
The national troops were in the unsheltered, snow-clad 
fields, wherever the tide of battle had borne them. A 
wintry wind swept over their shivering, freezing ranks. 
The foe was maddened and desperate. At any moment 
he might again burst forth. Sleepless diligence was 
requisite. 

Consternation reigned within the rebel camp. The 
morning of victory had passed away into an evening of 
awful defeat. The rebel leaders at midnight met in coun- 
cil. It was certain that General Grant would renew the 
assault in the morning. He occupied' positions which 
would surely render the assault successful. Buckner, 
whose troops were in front of General Smith's command, 
declared that he could not maintain a conflict of another 
half-hour with the national troops. The question agi- 
tated was whether they should make another desperate 
endeavor to cut through our lines, or surrender. All 
admitted that the fort could no longer be held. 

It will be remembered that General Floyd was in com- 
mand. He had been so implicated in the Rebellion, 
when a member of the United-States Cabinet, that he 
feared that, if taken, he would be hung as a traitor. He 
therefore declared, that, in consequence of his past rela- 
tions with the Federal Government, personal considera- 
tions rendered it necessary for him to make his escape. 
He consequently resigned his command to General Pil- 



58 LIFE OF GENERAL GEANT. 

low, that he might himself take a boat, and escape up the 
river. 

But General Pillow was in scarcely better repute with 
the national government than was Floyd. He also was 
very nervous as to the results of his capture. " There 
are no two men," said he, " in the Confederacy the Yan- 
kees would rather capture than General Floyd and my- 
self." He therefore followed the example of Floyd ; and, 
that he might escape with him in the boat, surrendered 
the command to General Buckner. 

General Buckner was a soldier, and had some sense of 
a soldier's honor. He refused to follow the disgraceful 
example of Floyd and Pillow in deserting his unfortunate 
comrades in the hour of their calamity. There were two 
steamers lying at the wharf. Floyd and Pillow, in the 
darkness of the night, crept down to the steamers ; and, 
with as many as could be crowded on board, — about 
three thousand, it is said, in number, — crossed to the 
opposite shore, and escaped. The soldiers, who stood 
around in great numbers, as they witnessed this ignomin- 
ious flight, greeted their fugitive chieftains with hisses 
and execrations. 

The morning had not yet dawned. General Buckner, 
while these scenes were taking place at the wharf, sent a 
bugler and a note to General Grant, proposing to surren- 
der. To this despatch, General Grant replied, — 

" No terms other than an unconditional surrender can 
be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your 
works." 

There was nothing for Buckner but to submit ; and he 
returned the answer, — which raised a smile throughout 
the Union, — " The disposition of forces under my com- 
mand, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, 



CAPTURE OF EOUT DONELSON. 59 

and the overwhelming force under your command, com- 
pel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Con- 
federate arms yesterday,- to accept the ungenerous and 
iinehivalrous terms ivhich you propose." 

Thus fell Donelson. The stars and stripes were un- 
rolled in the morning breeze over its proud bastions. Gen- 
eral Grant immediately mounted his horse, and rode to 
the headquarters of General Buckner. They had been 
schoolmates at West Point, and comrades in the United- 
States army afterwards. It was a great victory, — by far 
the greatest which had then been achieved in the course 
of the war. Sixty-five guns in battery were taken, over 
seventeen thousand small arms, an immense amount of 
provisions and military stores ; and fifteen thousand pris- 
oners fell into the hands of the victor. General Grant 
assured General Buckner that he had no desire to humil- 
iate his captives, and that the officers would be allowed 
to retain their side-arms. 

The Union loss during the siege was a little over two 
thousand. Of these, about four hundred were killed. 
The rebel loss is not known. They stated it at twelve 
hundred ; General Grant estimated it at twenty-five hun- 
dred. General Halleck co-operated very efficiently in 
this glorious achievement, by rapidly pushing on re- 
enforcements to General Grant. These arrived in such 
numbers that, on the morning of the surrender, twenty- 
seven thousand Union troops could have been brought 
forward for the charge. The turning-point of the battle 
was the magnificent attack made by General Smith upon 
the enemy's right. When General Buckner congratu- 
lated him upon that gallant charge, he replied with truth, 
and yet with magnanimity characteristic of the man, — 

" Yes : it was well done, considering the smallness of 



60 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the force that did it. But no congratulations are due 
me. I simply obeyed orders." 

General Grant was introducing a new era into the con- 
flict, — the era of hard fighting. He knew the promi- 
nent leaders in the rebel" army, and was well assured that 
there could be no peace until their forces should be de- 
stroyed. This sentiment animated him with increasing 
vigor to the end. It was through stern battling, and not 
by strategy, that peace was to be obtained. 

The secretary of war, Mr. Stanton, immediately recom- 
mended Grant as major-general of volunteers. Presi- 
dent Lincoln nominated him to the Senate on the same 
day. The nomination was instantly confirmed. Mr. 
Stanton then wrote the following letter, which was read 
throughout the Union with enthusiastic approval : — 
. " We may well rejoice at the recent victories ; for they 
teach us that battles are to be won now, and by us, in the 
same and only manner that they were ever won by any 
people, or in any age, since the days of Joshua, — by 
boldly pursuing and striking the foe. What, under the 
blessing of Providence, I conceive to be the true organi- 
zation of victory, and military combination to end this 
war, was declared in a few words by General Grant's 
message to General Buckner : ' I propose to move immedi- 
ately on your ivories? " 

From that hour to the termination of the great conflict 
in the destruction of General Lee's army before Rich- 
mond, these two illustrious men co-operated with all their 
wonderful energies, and with perfect harmony of thought 
and action. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 

Opening of the Tennessee and Cumberland Kivers. — Generals Grant and 
Sherman. — Disembarkation at Pittsburg Landing. — The Situation. — 
Plan of the rebel General Johnston and its Success. — Valiant Defence. — 
General Lewis Wallace unjustly censured. — His Vindication. — Prompt 
Action of Colonel Webster. 




HE fall of Fort Donelson was the first real- 
ly important success which the Union arms 
had achieved since the commencement of 
the war. General Grant had thus suddenly 
attained national fame. The results of the 
capture were immense. By the fall of Henry and Donel- 
son, the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers were thrown 
open for the range of our rapidly-increasing gun-boat fleet, 
through hundreds of miles, into the interior of the rebel 
States. The rebel military line had been pierced ; and, as 
our troops could now attack both Cumberland and Bowl- 
ing Green in the rear, the evacuation of both of those 
important posts became imperative. Bowling Green was 
immediately abandoned ; and, in a fortnight after the fall 
of Donelson, the batteries and the garrison had vanished 
from the bluff at Columbus. Nashville, the capital of 
Tennessee, far up the waters of the Cumberland, was 
speedily occupied by our troops. 

General Grant was assigned to the new military district 

Gl 



62 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

of Tennessee. Brigadier-General William T. Sherman, 
whose name was then unknown, but whose renown has 
since filled the world, was assigned to the command of 
the district of Cairo. Generals Sherman and Grant had 
spent one year together at West Point, General Sherman 
being in the graduating class as Grant entered the insti- 
tution. They had not since met ; but General Sherman 
had rendered Grant efficient aid at Donelson, by vigor- 
ously forwarding to him supplies. A correspondence was 
then commenced between them ; and the hearts of these 
two noble men, engaged in the same glorious enterprise, 
at once blended in sympathy. General Sherman was the 
senior officer, yet he wrote to General Grant at Donelson 
on the 13 th of February : — 

" I will do every thing in my power to hurry forward 
your re-enforcements and supplies, and, if I could be of ser- 
vice myself, would gladly come, without making any ques- 
tion of rank with you or General Smith." 

When Donelson fell, and all the country was ringing 
with the plaudits of General Grant, for a victory to which 
General Sherman had so essentially contributed, the lat- 
ter wrote to the conqueror, warmly congratulating him on 
his success. General Grant replied : — 

" I feel under many obligations to you for the kind 
terms of your letter, and hope that, should an opportunity 
occur, you will earn for yourself that promotion which 
you are kind enough to say belongs to me. I care nothing 
for promotion, so long as our arms are successful." 

It makes one proud of human nature to see these men 
of great achievements, unmindful of all rivalries, bound 
in the ties of ever-during friendship, remaining faithful to 
each other under the sorest trials and temptations, and 
coming off alike victors, sharing together the confi- 
dence and gratitude of their countrymen. 



BATTLE OF SHJLOH. 63 

Within a week after the fall of Donclson, General Grant 
sent General C. F. Smith fifty miles up the river, with 
four regiments, to take possession of Clarkesville. On the 
27th, General Grant went to Nashville, which the enemy 
had abandoned. At this time a slight misunderstanding 
arose between General Grant and General Halleck, in 
consequence of the failure of several of General Grant's 
despatches to reach the headquarters of General Halleck. 
We have not space for the correspondence ; but, when the 
facts were known, General Halleck exempted General 
Grant from all blame. 

The beautiful city of Nashville, the capital of the State 
of Tennessee, containing about fifteen thousand inhabi- 
tants, is situated on the south side of the Cumberland 
River, about one hundred and twenty miles from its mouth. 
It was surrendered to a small Union force without any 
conflict. A strong union feeling animated the settlers 
upon the banks of the Cumberland, so that the whole 
stream, from Nashville to its mouth, was entirely under 
our control. General Grant now removed his headquar- 
ters to Fort Henry, that he might obtain equal control of 
the Tennessee River. Here he was engaged in fitting out 
an expedition to ascend that stream. 

The enemy was concentrating a large force at Corinth, 
just across the Tennessee line, in the State of Mississippi. 
It was their object to enter Kentucky, where they would 
find many sympathizers, and thousands ready to join 
their banners. They then intended to cross the Ohio, 
and thus to carry the war into the Northern States. It 
was a bold plan, and one which these bold men were well 
capable of undertaking. It therefore became the great 
object of General Grant's ambition to destroy this army. 
Still, he could only act by the consent of his superior, 



64 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Ilallcck, who was an extremely cautious man. 
General Grant and Admiral Foote were often greatly 
annoyed by the restraints which the prudence of General 
Halleck imposed upon their zeal. 

With this object in view, General Grant, taking quite 
a large force, ascended the Tennessee River as far as 
Pittsburg Landing. His army consisted of five divisions, 
commanded respectively by Generals Sherman, Hurl- 
burt, McClernand, Lewis Wallace, and Colonel Lauman. 
These troops were conveyed up the river in fifty-seven 
transports, convoyed by gunboats. They were disem- 
barked on the west side of the Tennessee, at Pittsburg 
Landing, about twenty miles from the intrenched camp 
of the rebels at Corinth. General Smith, a good soldier 
and a good engineer, selected the spot. It was very 
favorable for their contemplated advance upon Corinth, 
but also exposed them to be attacked in their turn. 
Here they awaited the arrival of General Buell, who was 
marching from Nashville to join them with forty thou- 
sand men. Impeded by rains and bad roads, and by the 
constitutional caution of their commander, the advance 
of these re-enforcements was not as rapid as had been 
expected. 

Tims the army with which General Grant was to 
operate was divided by the Tennessee River, General 
Buell with his force being several miles distant on the 
east, while the troops of General Grant were encamped 
on the western bank, in a wide ravine or valley near the 
stream. It was simply a landing, with two log-huts com- 
posing its only visible improvement. Streams running 
into the Tennessee, above and below his encampment, 
protected his flanks. A good supply of transports, de- 
fended by gunboats, secured his communications with 



BATTLE OF SH1LOH. 65 

the opposite shore. A country road passed through the 
ravine towards the west, with wooded hills rising to a 
considerable elevation on the north and the south. A 
little back from the river, there was a rolling country, cut 
up with ravines, covered with forest, and interlaced with 
an inextricable maze of wood-paths. Here the army of 
General Grant was encamped, spreading over a space of 
several square miles. They were expecting to advance 
immediately upon the arrival of General Buell's re- 
enforcements, and thus, imprudently, had not protected 
themselves with intrenchments. 

In consequence of General Grant's misunderstanding 
with General Halleck, he had been for a short time out 
of command. There is a certain degree of mystery con- 
nected with these events which has never yet been fully 
explained ; and it is not the duty of the writer to attempt 
to investigate those facts which a military commission 
failed to elucidate. Neither would it be possible, in the 
brief space allotted us, to make intelligible to the reader 
all the mazes of that confused and terrible conflict through 
which General Grant again, as at Donelson, advanced 
from defeat to victory. 

Thirty-five thousand Union troops were resting upon 
the hillsides and the ravines of Pittsburg Landing. At 
a distance of twenty miles from them, there was a rebel 
camp strongly intrenched, containing about seventy thou- 
sand men. General Albert Sidney Johnston was in com- 
mand, supported by the most noted chieftains, — Beaure- 
gard, Hardee, Bragg, and Polk. ' General Breckenridge 
was in command of the reserve. The advance of the 
Union troops was near Shiloh Church ; and thus the first 
day's battle, which soon ensued, is frequently called the 
battle of Shiloh. General Johnston wisely resolved to 



66 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

move forward with his whole force, and crush the little 
army of Grant before Buell could arrive. He was well 
aware of the valor of the foe he was to assail, and that 
caution was requisite as well as courage. Each party con- 
cealed, as far as possible, from the other its numbers, its 
position, and its means of attack and defence. Recon- 
noissances were sent out by the rebels, and several very 
spirited skirmishes ensued. This put our troops some- 
what on their guard ; but it was generally supposed that 
the rebels, standing behind strong intrenchments which 
they had been rearing for months, would avail themselves 
of the great advantage of their forts and ramparts, and 
there await the assault. 

It was General Johnston's plan to burst suddenly into 
the Union camp in the earliest light of the 5th. But a 
drenching rain came, the narrow roads were soon 
trampled into sloughs, and the march was so impeded 
that the rebel troops did not reach our front till late in 
the afternoon of that day. Their presence was so con- 
cealed by the forest, the underbrush, and the hills that 
our troops had no consciousness that the whole rebel army 
was encamped but a few yards from their lines. 

At half-past five o'clock the next morning, Sunday the 
6th of April, the rebels in three columns came rushing 
upon our advanced divisions, which were under the com- 
mand of Generals Sherman and Prentiss. These troops 
were three or four miles from the landing. At that early 
hour they were taken by surprise. The odds against them 
were terrific. Successful resistance was hopeless. Many 
of the men were not dressed. The arms were stacked. 
An awful scene ensued of confusion and terror and blood. 
A whole army was crushing, annihilating two feeble di- 
visions. A storm of bullets and shell swept through the 



BATTLE OF SH1L01I. 67 

tents. So sudden was the onset that some were shot in 
their beds. General Prentiss and General Sherman did 
all that mortal energy could do to meet the awful crisis. 

General Prentiss was speedily overwhelmed, his force 
dispersed, and himself and three regiments taken prison- 
ers. Both he and General Sherman had anticipated an 
attack, warned by the vigorous skirmishing of the previ- 
ous days ; but it came at an unexpected hour. The de- 
struction of Prentiss's division now turned the whole force 
of the rebels upon Sherman. He fought like a lion, and 
by his own personal valor held his brigades together so 
as slightly to check the advance of the foe. General 
McClernand, who was stationed a little in his rear, came 
promptly to the rescue. 

But the two bodies united, with all their combined val- 
or, could do but little to resist so overwhelming an as- 
sault. Some broke, and fled back to the river in terror ; 
others stood bravely to their guns and maintained their 
martial array, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as pos- 
sible. 

When the battle commenced, General Grant, with his 
staff, was taking an early breakfast, preparing to set off in 
search of General Buell, whose approach had been an- 
nounced. The tremendous cannonade, nine miles from 
the point at which he stood, revealed to him at once the 
whole truth. He despatched aids in all directions, to hur- 
ry up the detached divisions in support of the feeble lines, 
which were swaying and falling beneath the blows of the 
foe. A courier was instantly despatched to General Buell 
with the following note : — 

" Heavy firing is heard up the river, indicating plainly 
that an attack has been made upon our most advanced 
positions. 1 have been looking for this, but did not be* 



68 LIFE OF GENEHAL GRANT. 

lieve the attack could be made before Monday or Tues- 
day. This necessitates my joining the forces up the 
river, instead of meeting you to-day as I had contem- 
plated." 

General Grant was then at Savannah, nine miles below 
Pittsburg Landing. He was there to meet General BuelJ, 
having received from him, the day before, the following 
note : — 

" I shall be in Savannah myself to-morrow, with per- 
haps two divisions. Can I meet you there ? " 

General Grant replied : — 

" Your despatch just received. I will be here to meet 
you to-morrow. The enemy at and near Corinth are 
probably from sixty to eighty thousand." 

General Grant was then suffering from a very severe 
bruise. The day before, he rode out to General Sherman's 
lines on the extreme front, to confer with him upon the 
posture of affairs. As he was returning in the darkness 
of a rainy night, his horse, slipping upon a log, fell upon 
his rider. This lamed him for a week, and caused him 
excruciating pain. 

On Saturday the 5th, the head of Nelson's column 
reached Savannah, where General Grant was waiting, in 
his crippled state, the arrival of General Buell. These 
troops were immediately sent up the river, to a position 
about live miles from the point opposite Pittsburg Land- 
ing. The transports, protected by the gunboats, were 
ready at any moment to take them across the stream, to 
re-enforce the troops upon the other side, in case of need. 

A few miles above Savannah, and about four miles be- 
low Pittsburg Landing, there was a place called Crump's 
Landing. Here General Lewis Wallace was stationed 
with a division of about five thousand men. General 



BATTLE OF SH1LOH. 69 

Grant took a transport, under a full head of steam, for the 
front. lie stopped a moment to see General Wallace. 
This energetic commander had his whole force drawn up, 
in readiness to move immediately in obedience to what- 
ever orders. The roar of the battle raging but a few miles 
from him was ringing incessantly in his ears. He was 
directed by General Grant to hold himself in readiness to 
march to the support of the mam army, should he receive 
orders so to do ; or, should the attack in front prove a 
feint, to be prepared to protect himself from an assault 
along the Purdy Road. This interview was held on board 
the transport. The situation of General Wallace was 
isolated and exposed. It was apprehended that the ene- 
my might be contemplating an attack upon him. 

General Grant then hurried the transport on to Pitts- 
burg Landing, and rode immediately to the front. A 
scene of disaster here met his eye. Our advance line was 
abandoned to the enemy. Their encampment was in his 
hands. The division of General Prentiss was destroyed. 
The divisions of Generals Sherman and McClernand, 
though struggling desperately with the foe, were greatly 
demoralized, and had been driven back two miles. The 
field was filled with fugitives and stragglers, running 
back to the river's brink for the protection of the trans- 
ports and of the gunboats. Still the battle raged hour 
after hour, as our troops fell sullenly back, and re-formed 
and advanced anew, behind the lines in their rear. To 
most, the day seemed hopelessly lost, and the destruction 
of the army inevitable. 

An aid-de-camp was despatched to General Lewis Wal- 
lace, urging him to hasten with all possible speed to the 
front, with his fresh division of five thousand men. Still 
hour after hour passed, and he did not make his appear- 



70 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ancc. It was one of the unavoidable casualties of war. 
He has been severely, but very unjustly, censured for this 
delay. He merits gratitude and applause only for the 
heroism and wisdom he displayed on the occasion. 

In obedience to orders he remained, chafing as he lis- 
tened to the tumult of the battle which was ever drawing 
nearer, awaiting instructions to move. At eleven o'clock a 
courier arrived, directing him to march as rapidly as pos- 
sible, and join the national army on their right. He im- 
mediately put his force in motion, by the only road through 
which his object could be attained. But, in the mean- 
time, the rebels had driven our lines in so far that a con- 
tinuation in that line would bring him far away from our 
troops, in the rear of the victorious foe : thus would the 
capture of his whole division be inevitable. 

An aid from General Grant came galloping up to inform 
him of this fact ; and that lie must promptly change his 
direction, and hasten down to the landing, where the re- 
treating troops were crowded together. But there was 
no cross-road through the forest and over the ravines by 
which he could possibly march. It was absolutely neces- 
sary — there was no escape from it — for him to retrace his 
steps, several miles, to the Purdy Road ; there to take the 
River Road, which would conduct him to the landing. 
This he did with all possible energy, though he was un- 
able to reach the field of battle until after sunset. There 
is nothing more cruel than to heap reproaches upon a 
gallant soldier, who is perilling life and limb for his coun- 
try, because he does not perform impossibilities. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon, our lines were every- 
where broken, and driven back almost to the river's I rink. 
General Prentiss was a prisoner. General W. H. L. Wal- 
lace, one of the most gallant officers, had been borne from 



BATTLE OF SH1LOI1. 71 

the field mortally wounded. Further retreat of the tr >ops 
was impossible. Colonel Webster, General Grant's chief 
of staff, collected a battery of twenty-two pieces, two of 
which were heavy siege-guns, and from a commanding 
eminence opened a terrific fire upon the advancing foe. 
The enemy recoiled before these rapid and deadly dis- 
charges of grape and canister and shells. Just then a 
loud shout was heard rising from thousands of voices, 
and General Nelson's division of Buell's army was seen 
upon the opposite bank of the river. The transports 
speedily convoyed them across. Two of the gunboats, 
— " The Tyler," and " The Lexington," — now that the 
foe were brought within their range, opened fire. Their 
enormous shells — the most terrible missiles then known 
in war — circled through the air, and, falling in the midst 
of the dense ranks of the foa, exploded with fearful car- 
nage. The victors were checked. The pursuit was ar- 
rested. The enemy drew sullenly back ; his fire slack- 
ened ; and soon night, darkness, and silence enveloped 
the scene. 

The rebels had attained a signal success. Our army 
had been routed, and a portion of it had been driven two 
or three miles before the foe. We had lost several thou- 
sand prisoners, and the whole field of battle was covered 
with the dying and the dead. Such were the results of 
the battle of Shiloh. 

The singular absence of rivalry and jealousy between 
General Grant and General Sherman is remarkably man- 
ifested in the despatch which General Grant sent to the 
government soon after this battle, recommending Gen- 
eral Sherman to promotion. 

" To General Sherman," he writes, " I was greatly in- 
debted, for his promptness in forwarding to me during 



72 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the siege of Fort Donelson, re-enforcements and supplies 
from Paducah. At the battle of Shiloh, on the first day, 
he held with raw troops the key-point to the landing. 
To his individual efforts I am indebted for the success of 
that battle. Twice hit, and several (I think three) horses 
shot under him on that day, he maintained his position 
with raw troops. It is no disparagement to any other 
officer to say that I do not believe that there was another 
division commander on the field who had the skill and 
experience to have done it." 



Crumps/lan din 



8 HI 1 k O Hi 




CHAPTER VI. 

THE VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 

Renewal of the Battle. — Retreat of the Rebels. — General Grant's Charge. 

— Spectacle of the Battle-field. — Testimony of General Sherman. — 
Grant's Congratulatory Order. — The Unfavorable Impression. — Speech 
'of Hon. E. B. Washburne. — General Halleck assumes the Command. 

— The Advance upon Corinth. — The Investment. — Impatience of the 
Troops. 

HE peculiar character of General Grant has 
never been more signally displayed than 
in the darkest hours of disaster. The 
dreadful calamity which the army had en- 
countered at Shiloh seems not to have dis- 
turbed in the least his equanimity, or his confidence in 
the final result of the campaign. His words, his looks, 
his whole demeanor, inspired all with the assurance that 
the dawn of the morning would bring victory. 

There was little sleep for the national troops that night. 
The gunboats, with their terrible shells, — which a negro 
described as " the wrath of God," — kept up through the 
night an incessant fire. The shattered divisions were 
re-organized. A new line of battle was formed. Gen- 
eral Nelson's fresh troops, eager for the fray, were placed 
in position. General Lewis Wallace had arrived with his 
troops, panting for the conflict. General Buell was close 
at hand with his strong re-enforcements. Generals Mc- 

73 




74 LIFE OF GENEPwAL GRANT. 

Cook's and Crittenden's divisions of Buell's army, compris- 
ing twenty thousand men, which arrived during tie night, 
were ferried across the river, and formed in line of battle. 
General Grant, confident of victory, visited every division 
commander, giving to each minute directions, and order- 
ing all, at the earliest dawn, to charge the foe with the 
utmost possible impetuosity. Each commander was to 
attack with a heavy skirmish-line as soon as it was light 
enough to see, and was then to follow up the attack with 
his whole command, leaving no reserves. General Grant 
perhaps relied upon the troops of Buell — now rapidly 
arriving — for a reserve, should any be needed. 

During the night, mercifully, very mercifully, a heavy 
storm of rain arose. The exploding shells had set the 
woods on fire. The crackling flames were spreading 
through the dry grass and stubble in all directions. But 
for the rain, which thoroughly drenched the two sleepless 
and unsheltered armies, many of the wounded would 
have been burned alive. About midnight General'Grant, 
having completed his arrangements, sharing the discom- 
fort of his troops, threw himself upon the ground, and 
with a stump for a pillow, utterly exhausted by fatigue, 
slept soundly through the storm. 

With the earliest light the battle was renewed. From 
the left, the centre, and the right, the national army — now 
in the majority, and with many fresh troops newly ar- 
rived — commenced the impetuous charge. The rebel 
troops were astounded at this sudden apparition of the 
dense lines of a defiant army rushing with shouts to the 
assault, when they had expected only to meet routed 
and fugitive foes. The rebels were exhausted with the 
tremendous exertions of the preceding day ; and, though 
they fought well, they oould not resist the impetuosity of 



VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 75 

the outnumbering national troops. General Lewis Wal- 
lace and his men performed prodigies of valor, proving to 
a demonstration that their delay of yesterday was their 
calamity only, not their fault. General Buell him- 
self had arrived, — a thoroughly educated soldier, — and 
handled his troops with the ability which he ever dis- 
played on the field of battle, but which, unfortunately, 
he did not always exhibit in his slow and cautious marches. 

The advance of the patriot troops was resistlessly on- 
ward. Everywhere the foe recoiled before them. Step 
by step the national troops gradually regained every foot 
of ground they lost the day before. The retreat of the 
enemy became more rapid, less orderly; though still, 
like brave and well-officered men as they were, bad as 
was their cause, they fought with desperation. By night 
they were driven five miles from the ground which they 
had occupied in the morning. 

Towards the close of this triumphant day, General 
Grant, who seemed to be everywhere present, met the 
First Ohio Regiment near a position occupied by the 
rebels, which it was very important at that juncture to 
take. He halted the regiment, and placed himself at its 
head. The troops recognized him with an enthusiastic 
cheer. General Grant ordered them " to charge ; " and 
led them in person, as much exposed as any private to 
the fire of the foe. They would have followed him to 
the cannon's mouth. An exhausted and retreating regi- 
ment, animated by the sight, closed up their wavering 
ranks, and, with cheers, joined in the charge. The foe 
was swept pell-mell from the spot ; and thus one of the 
most important positions of the battle-field was gained. 

The day was now far spent. The foe was rapidly 
retreating, to find shelter behind his intrenchments at 



70 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Corinth. The national troops, though victorious, were 
in the extreme of exhaustion ; but the zeal of General 
Grant seemed to be proof against all weariness. He was 
anxious to pursue the retiring foe ; but Generals McCook 
and Crittenden assured him that pursuit was then impos- 
sible, that their troops, brave as they were, would drop 
in their ranks from sheer exhaustion. They had made 
a forced march all the day before ; they had passed 
almost a sleepless night ; they had fought with tremen- 
dous energy during the day; a heavy rain was now fall- 
ing, the darkness of a stormy night was coming on, and 
the roads were trampled to mire. Human strength could 
go no farther ; and the weary hosts threw themselves 
upon the field which they had so grandly reclaimed, and 
found repose in sleep. The rebels stopped not to look 
behind until safe in their intrenchments at Corinth. 

The attack of the rebels was wisely planned and heroic- 
ally executed ; but, through those casualties of war which 
no sagacity can fully provide for, it proved an utter fail- 
ure. They marched from their intrenchments flushed 
with the confidence of victory : they returned mangled 
and bleeding, with their ranks broken, their numbers 
terribly diminished, leaving many of their wounded to 
fall into our hands, and their dead unburied. General 
Beauregard reported his total loss, in killed, wounded, 
and missing, at ten thousand six hundred and ninety- 
nine. General Grant's estimate of the rebel loss was 
very much greater. Our burial parties reported the 
rebel dead at four thousand. This, according to the 
usual proportion of the wounded, would bring their loss 
up to twenty thousand. General Grant's loss was twelve 
thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. Each army had 
gained a victory : each army had encountered a defeat. 



VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 77 

Still, it must be admitted that the advantage on the 
whole was immensely with the national troops. The 
rebel army, demoralized and disheartened, had fled to 
seek protection behind their intrenchments. The national 
army, animated and emboldened by victory, was eager to 
pursue the foe, again to strike those blows which were 
destined eventually to bring the Rebellion to an end. 

The field of battle, after the conflict was over, pre- 
sented a terrible spectacle. For two days it had been 
swept incessantly by the storms of war. Two large 
armies had twice surged over it, each struggling in turn 
with the energies of despair. Scarcely a rod could be 
seen, for miles over the wide expanse, which did not 
contain the dead or the wounded. In many places 
where charges had been made, the dead lay in rows, as 
if cut down by the scythe of the mower. One tree, not 
eighteen inches in diameter, was struck by ninety balls 
within a distance of ten feet from the ground. It would 
seem that not a bird could have flown over that battle- 
swept field unscathed. General Grant seemed to bear a 
charmed life. Not a bullet touched him. A ball passed 
through General Sherman's hat, another glanced from 
his shoulder-strap, and a third passed through his hand. 
Scarcely a twig could be found in the underbrush which 
had not been struck. 

There is a mystery connected with these battles of 
Shiloh and of Pittsburg Landing which has never yet 
been fully solved. General Prentiss is reported to have 
made the following statement : — 

" General Beauregard asked me if we had any works 
at the river. To which I replied, ' You must consider us 
poor soldiers, general, if you suppose we would have 
neglected so plain a duty.' The truth is, however, that 
we had no works at all." 



78 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Grant says, "As to the talk of our being sur. 
prised, nothing could be more false. If the enemy had 
sent us word where and when they would attack, we conld 
not have been better prepared. Skirmishing had been 
going on for two days between our reconnoitring parties 
and the enemy's advance. I did not believe, however, 
that they intended to make a determined attack, but 
simply to make a reconnoissance in force." 

Immediately after the battle, General Halleck arrived 
at Pittsburg Landing, and assumed the command of the 
army. It was not supposed that at this time he was very 
friendly to General Grant ; and the country expected a 
very thorough investigation of the case. The result of 
that investigation was, that General Halleck exonerated 
General Grant from all blame. Still the community 
were left in the dark. In an order to the troops, which 
was intended as an announcement to the country, Gen- 
eral Halleck thanked General Grant and General Buell, 
with the'ir officers and men, " for the bravery and endur- 
ance with which they sustained the general attacks of 
the enemy on the 6th, and for the heroic manner in 
which on the 7th they defeated and routed the entire 
rebel army." Brigadier-General Sherman was particu- 
larly commended for the services which he had rendered 
on the occasion ; and it was urged that he be promoted 
to the rank of major-general of volunteers. 

General Sherman wrote, at this time, a very noble 
letter in defence of General Grant, from which I will 
make a few extracts. It was addressed to the editor 
of " The United-States Service Magazine," and was pub- 
lished in January, 1865 : — 

" I will avail myself of this occasion to correct another 
very common mistake, in attributing to General Grant 



VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 79 

the selection of that battle-field. It was chosen by that 
veteran soldier, Major-General Charles F. Smith, who 
ordered my division to disembark there, and strike for 
the Charleston Railroad. It was General Smith who 
selected that field of battle, and it was well chosen. On 
any other we surely should have been overwhelmed, as 
both Lick and Snake Creeks forced the enemy to confine 
his movement to a direct front attack, which new troops 
are better qualified to resist than where the flanks are 
exposed to a real or chimerical danger. Even the divis- 
ions of the army were arranged in that camp by Gen- 
eral Smith's order, before General Grant succeeded him 
to the command of all the forces up the Tennessee, — 
headquarters, Savannah. If there were any error in put- 
ting that army on the west side of the Tennessee, exposed 
to the superior force of the enemy, also assembling at 
Corinth, the mistake was not General Grant's. But 
there was no mistake." 

General Grant, in a congratulatory order to the troops, 
issued on the 8th of April, says, — 

" The general commanding congratulates the troops 
who so gallantly maintained their position ; repulsed and 
routed a numerically superior force of the enemy, com- 
posed of the flower of the Southern army, commanded 
by their ablest generals, and fought by them with all the 
desperation of despair. In numbers engaged, no such 
contest ever took rlace on this continent. In importance 
of result, but few such have taken place in the history 
of the world." 

It cannot be denied, that, for a time, there was a strong 
impression throughout the country unfavorable to the 
conduct of General Grant at Pittsburg Landing ; and it 
must also be admitted that each succeeding development 



80 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

of facts has tended to throw new lustre upon the genius 
of General Grant, as exhibited on that occasion. But, 
for a season, he was certainly under the cloud. With 
characteristic silence he endured the wrong, waiting his 
opportunity to reply by deeds, and not by words. 

The Hon. E. B. Washburne, Member of Congress 
from General Grant's district in Illinois, in a speech upon 
this occasion in the House of Representatives, May 2, 
1862, said, in reference to the charge of intemperance 
which was then brought against the general, — 

" But there is a more grievous suggestion touching the 
general's habits. It is a suggestion that has infused 
itself into the public mind everywhere. There never 
was a more cruel and atrocious slander upon a brave and 
a noble-minded man. There is no more temperate man in 
the army than General Grant. He never indulges in the 
use of intoxicating liquors at all. He is an example 
of courage, honor, fortitude, activity, temperance, and 
modesty ; for he is as modest as he is brave and incor- 
ruptible. It is almost vain to hope that full justice 
will ever be done to men who have been thus attacked. 
Truth is slow upon the heels of falsehood. It has been 
well said that ' falsehood will travel from Maine to Geor- 
gia while truth is putting on its boots.' 

" Though living in the same town with myself, General 
Grant has no political claims on me ; for, so far as he 
is a politician, he belongs to a different party. But to 
the victory at Pittsburg Landing, which has called forth 
such a flood of denunciation upon General Grant: as 
to whether there was or not what might be called a sur- 
prise, I will not argue it. But, even if there had been, 
General Grant is nowise responsible for it; for he was not 
surprised. He was at his headquarters at Savannah when 



VICTORY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. 81 

the fight commenced. Those headquarters were estab- 
lished there as being the most convenient point for all 
parts of his command. Some of the troops were at 
Crump's Landing, between Savannah and Pittsburg ; and 
all the new arrivals were coming to Savannah. That was 
the proper place for the headquarters of the commanding 
general at that time. The general visited Pittsburg 
Landing, and all the important points, every day. The 
attack was made Sunday morning by a vastly superior 
force. In five minutes after the first firing was heard, 
General Grant and staff were on board a steamboat, on 
the way to the battle-field ; and, instead of not reaching 
the field till ten o'clock, or — as has been still more falsely 
represented — till noon, I have a letter before me from one 
of his aids who was with him, and who says he arrived 
there at eight o'clock in the morning, and immediately 
assumed command. There he directed the movements, 
and was always on that part of the field where his pres- 
ence was most required, exposing his life, and evincing in 
his dispositions the genius of the greatest commanders. 

" With what desperate bravery that battle of Sunday 
was fought ! What prodigies of valor ! Our troops — 
less than forty thousand — attacked by more than eighty 
thousand picked men of the rebels, led by their most dis- 
tinguished generals ! After fighting all day with im- 
mensely superior numbers of the enemy, they only drove 
our forces back two and one-half miles, and then it was to 
face the gunboats and the terrible batteries so skilfully 
arranged and worked by the gallant and accomplished 
officers, Webster and Callender, and which brought the 
countless host of the enemy to a stand ; and, when night 
came, this- unconquerable army stood substantially tri- 
umphant on that bloody field. I believe, notwithstand- 



82 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ing the desperate fighting on Sunday, and the partial 
repulse of our troops, that, aided by the fresh troops of 
the brave Lewis Wallace, that army could have whipped 
the enemy on Monday without further re-enforcements. " 

The rebels were again rendezvoused at Corinth, behind 
a series of intrenchments which they deemed impregnable. 
General Halleck, who had now assumed the command, 
superseding General Grant, was a man of decided abili- 
ties, but of excessive caution. Though General Grant 
was left second in command, he was not often consulted 
by General Halleck, who was a very positive man, and sel- 
dom asked counsel of others. The army was largely re- 
enforced, and divided into three corps. General Thomas 
was placed in command of the right, General Pope of 
the left, and General Buell of the centre. The reserve 
was intrusted to General McClernand. General Grant 
still nominally commanded the district of West Tennessee, 
with Generals Thomas and McClernand as his corps-com- 
manders. His situation was a painful one, as he generally 
was regarded as in disgrace. 

Under the command of General Halleck, the national 
army moved slowly and cautiously towards Corinth. 
There was no longer any failure in the use of the spade, 
and in the throwing up of intrenchments. Wherever 
the troops halted, ramparts and bastions rose immediately 
around them ; and every precaution was adopted to prevent 
surprise. The progress, though sure, was necessarily slow. 
Some of the more impetuous generals chafed under these 
restraints. Six weeks were employed in advancing six- 
teen miles. 

The Union troops were then nearly within range of 
the guns at Corinth. It was estimated that General 
Beauregard had seventy thousand men behind those ram- 



VICTORY AT PITTSBUKG LANDING. 83 

parts, though he reported his numbers at forty-seven 
thousand. General Halleck had a hundred and twenty 
thousand bayonets under his control, with a splendid ar- 
ray of artillery and siege-guns. He planted his army in 
front of the rebel works, rearing counter-works, and pre- 
paring to carry the place by siege. General Grant was 
of the opinion that the enemy's works could, without 
doubt, be carried by assault. He expressed this opinion 
to General Halleck ; but the suggestion was repelled by 
the intimation, " that, when General Halleck needed the 
advice of General Grant, he would call for it." The 
modest soldier did not again obtrude his opinions. 

The siege of Corinth was now commenced. It was 
safely prosecuted, according to the established rules of 
military art. The troops were impatient ; the generals 
were impatient ; the country was impatient. The nar- 
rative of the mortifying result of the siege must be 
reserved for the next chapter. 




CHAPTER VII. 

THE SIEGE OP CORINTH AND THE ADVANCE TO VICKSBURG. 

The Secret Evacuation. — Chagrin of the Army. — General Grant restored 
to his Command. — His Headquarters at Corinth. — Plans of Price, 
Bragg, and Van Dorn. — The Rebel Batteries at Vicksburg. — The 
Advance upon Vicksburg. — Failure of the Canal. — The Lake-Provi- 
dence Enterprise. — The Moon-Lake Enterprise. — The Yazoo Enter- 
prise. 

Y the latter part of May, the national army, 
in vast strength, was gathered around the 
rebel intrenchments at Corinth ; which were 
spread over miles of the wild, rugged, soli- 
tary country. The rebels had occupied all 
the important eminences by their batteries, so as to com- 
mand every approach to their works. The cautious gen- 
eral moved with great circumspection. There were occa- 
sional skirmishes and military duels from opposing 
heights ; but it was very evident that General Halleck 
had no intention of storming the intrenchments, and 
that nothing could induce General Beauregard, who was 
then in command of the post, to emerge from behind his 
ramparts. Gradually, however, our lines drew nearer to 
the foe, until we were within two hundred yards of their 
main intrenchments. It was universally supposed that a 
tremendous struggle was at hand, and the North contem- 
plated the result with great solicitude. 

On the 30th of May a very curious explosion was heard 

84 



SIEGE OF CORINTH. 85 

within the enemy's lines, sounding like volleys of large 
siege-pieces in repeated explosions of twos and threes; 
and clouds of smoke were seen ascending from Corinth. 
This attracted the attention of the whole army, and Gen- 
eral Morgan L. Smith's brigade was sent forward cautious- 
ly, to ascertain the cause. The brigade approached the 
first redoubt of the enemy, and encountered no fire. Hes- 
itatingly it pressed on, and entered the redoubt. It was 
empty. Not a vestige of the foe could be seen. Sur- 
prised at this, the brigade pushed on throughout the frown- 
ing labyrinth of ramparts and bastions, and found all silent 
and deserted. The troops entered the streets of Corinth. 
Nothing met the eye but solitude and desolation. They 
marched through the town, ascended College Hill beyond ; 
and, as far as the eye could reach, no sign of the enemy 
could be seen. The rebels had vanished in the night, 
leaving not a man behind. Indeed, for weeks they had 
been very shrewdly and secretly conducting their retreat ; 
and the works were all entirely evacuated. 

Very adroitly was this movement accomplished. An 
army of nearly a hundred thousand men, almost within 
pistol-shot of another hostile army a third larger, had 
effected its retreat unobserved, almost unsuspected ; car- 
rying off its sick, its provisions, its military stores, its ma- 
teriel of war. Nothing of any value was left behind. 
For more than a month the national army had been held 
at bay, while this movement was in operation. Thus 
ingloriously the siege of Corinth terminated. 

The troops under General Halleck, and many of their 
officers, had been anxious to assail the works during the 
siege, as they felt confident that they could carry them 
by storm. They were exceedingly chagrined in having 
the foe thus escape them, and were eager for the pursuit. 



86 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

The roads were good, the enemy demoralized, and the 
national troops in the finest condition. But the circum- 
spection of the commander-in-chief held them back. A 
reconnoitring force was sent out a little way, which re- 
turned having accomplished nothing. This mode of con- 
ducting warfare was not at all in accordance with the 
spirit of General Grant. But, in his subordinate position, 
he could only remain in camp in obedience to orders. 
He still nominally retained command of the district of 
Tennessee ; and as our army broke up, and retired from 
Corinth, his headquarters were transferred to Memphis, 
which had fallen into the hands of the national forces. 
Soon after, about the middle of July, General Halleck 
was recalled to Washington, to supersede General McClel- 
lan as general-in-chief of the American forces. The 
command of the army of the Tennessee consequently re- 
verted again to General Grant. He established himself 
at Corinth, as an important strategic point to command 
the Mobile and Ohio, and the Charleston and Memphis 
Railroads, which there crossed. 

Here, in the midst of the enemy's country, he had sev- 
eral important points to protect, and was compelled to act 
purely on the defensive. For eight weeks he was contin- 
ually threatened by large rebel forces under Generals Van 
Dorn and Price. The works at Corinth were altogether 
too extensive to be manned by the small garrison under 
General Grant's command. He accordingly constructed 
works nearer the town, which subsequently became of 
very great importance. Our troops in Virginia were at 
that time encountering terrible disasters. Both Mary- 
land and Ohio were threatened with invasion. Every 
man whom Grant could spare was taken from him, and 
sent to the North. He was thus left to defend him- 



SIEGE OF CORINTH. 87 

self almost without troops. His despatches at this time 
testify to the anxieties which oppressed him, to the sleep- 
less vigilance with which he watched his foes, and his res- 
olution to maintain his position to the very last extremity. 
The rebel General Price siezed Iuka, on the Charleston 
Railroad, twenty-one miles south-east of Corinth. He in- 
tended to traverse Tennessee to re-enforce Bragg, who was 
marching through Kentucky to invade Ohio. At the 
same time Yan Dorn was threatening Grant at Corinth, 
designing to effect a junction with Price. Grant wished 
to strike Price a blow, hoping to crush him before this 
junction was effected. But he could not safely weaken 
his little garrison at Corinth, to advance upon Price, as 
he was already severely threatened by Van Dorn. Such 
were the cruel embarrassments to which he was exposed. 

He sent out a force, however, under Generals Rose- 
crans and Ord, of about seventeen thousand men, to at- 
tack Price at Iuka. There was a bloody battle ; but 
Price succeeded in escaping, and, having united with Yan 
Dorn, marched upon Corinth. General Grant had now 
established his headquarters at Jackson, as the point 
at which he could be best in communication with the 
whole of his extended district. The rebels were in force 
at La Grange and at Ripley. Jackson and Bolivar were 
threatened as well as Corinth. It was for some time un- 
certain upon which point the enemy would strike his con- 
centrated blow. 

Suddenly the foe appeared in strength before Corinth. 
General Rosecrans was then in command there. He had 
nineteen thousand men in his ranks. The enemy ap- 
proached with thirty-eight thousand men. Their banners 
first appeared in front of Corinth on the 2d. Serious 
fighting commenced upon the 3d. General Rosecrans was 



88 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

driven from his outer defences to the interior works which 
General Grant had caused to be constructed. These 
works saved the army and the post. The rebel troops 
rushed to the assault with their usual bravery. After a 
fierce battle, in which General Rosecrans greatly distin- 
guished himself, the rebels were repelled with enormous 
slaughter. Two of the commands alone lost over four 
thousand men in killed, wounded, and missing. Though 
our troops fought behind their ramparts, over two thou- 
sand were either killed or wounded. 

While the battle was raging, General McPherson, with 
re-enforcements, arrived from Jackson, having been sent 
by General Grant in aid of the beleaguered garrison. 
General Grant, confident of the repulse, had also sent a 
force under Generals Hurlburt and Ord, four thousand 
strong, to strike the foe in flank upon their retreat. The 
plan, so sagaciously formed, was entirely successful. As 
the bleeding and shattered columns of the rebels were 
crossing the Hatchie River, these troops fell impetuously 
upon them. The rebel advance was forced back. A bat- 
tery of artillery and several hundred men were captured, 
and many were driven into the river and drowned. Had 
the orders given by General Grant been faithfully followed 
up, the entire force of Yan Dorn would have been de- 
stroyed. 

But the casualties of war are innumerable ; and we are 
apt to forget that all nerves are not made of steel, and 
that men utterly exhausted by fighting two days and a 
night are in a poor condition to pursue through rain and 
mire a desperate, though retreating, foe. The battles of 
Iuka and Corinth, both of which General Grant directed 
until the troops were in presence of the enemy, secured 
very important results. They relieved Yfest Tennessee 
from all immediate danger. 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBURG. 89 

The community was slow in giving General Grant 
credit for the genius he possessed. He was a man of few 
words : his address was far from imposing. He assumed 
no airs of greatness. The extreme simplicity of his man- 
ners deceived even those who were most familiar with 
him ; so that it was hut gradually the community awoke 
to the consciousness that General Grant was a man who 
would certainly accomplish whatever he undertook. 

In the latter part of October very considerable re- 
enforcements were sent to him ; and he suggested to Gen- 
eral Halleck that a movement should be made into the 
interior of Mississippi, to attack the enemy on the bluffs 
at Vicksburg, where they were erecting a Gibraltar-like 
fortress to command tho Lower Mississippi. The impor- 
tance of this stream to the United States cannot be ex- 
aggerated. Its waters fertilize a valley containing thirteen 
thousand square miles, being six times as large as the 
empire of France. Fifty-seven navigable streams pour 
their floods into the bosom of this father of waters. It is 
the great river, not only of the United States, but — all 
things considered — of the world. And yet a little band 
of rebels in the South had insolently assumed the right of 
wresting that river from the United States, and taking com- 
mand of its mouths. Our gunboat fleet had indignantly 
swept away the obstructions placed below New Orleans, 
and had restored that grand city to its allegiance. 

The rebels had seized upon Vicksburg, which was situ- 
ated upon a bluff, in a remarkable bend of the river, about 
four hundred miles above New Orleans. Early in Janu- 
ary, 1861, they had commenced throwing up batteries 
on this spot. After the fall of Island No. 10, their fortifi- 
cations were greatly enlarged and strengthened. In 
June, 1862, Admiral Farragut, ascending in gunboats 



90 LTFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

from New Orleans, attempted to demolish these batteries ; 
but they proved too strong for him. It became evident 
that they could be carried only by a united land and 
river force. General Grant now proposed abandoning 
Corinth, destroying all the railroads in that region, and 
concentrating his troops at Memphis, which was about 
sixty miles due west from Corinth, on the east bank of 
the Mississippi River. 

After much correspondence with General Halleck, and 
various minor movements of detachments of his army, — 
abandoning some posts and occupying others, here 
opening new communications and there destroying old 
ones, — by the close of January, 186-3, General Grant was 
prepared for his great attempt upon Vicksburg. ' The 
eyes of the whole continent were fixed upon the enter- 
prise. Here the rebels had concentrated the utmost of 
their strength. Here the national government was to 
strike the heaviest of its blows. 

The entire force at General Grant's command in the 
department of the Tennessee amounted to a hundred 
and thirty thousand men. Of these he took fifty thousand 
with him for the reduction of Vicksburg. These troops 
were conveyed down the Mississippi in gunboats and 
transports, and landed at Milliken's Bend and Young's 
Point, — two positions on the western bank of the river, 
a few miles above Vicksburg. Commodore Porter was to 
co-operate with a fleet of sixty vessels, carrying two hun- 
dred and eighty guns and eight hundred men. The guns 
of Vicksburg, of course, prevented communication be- 
tween the national forces above and below the batteries. 

In Commodore Farragut's unavailing endeavor (to 
which we have alluded) to destroy the batteries at Vicks- 
burg, he endeavored to cut a canal across the neck of the 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBURG. 91 

peninsula, which the very remarkable bend in the riverhere 
makes. Could this canal be completed, General Grant 
could run through with his transports out of range of the 
enemy's guns, and thus obtain a position in the rear of 
Vicksburg. The Yazoo River, which ran into the Missis- 
sippi north of Vicksburg, and whose banks the rebels had 
strongly fortified, prevented his attaining this end in that 
direction. 

General Grant's first attempt was to open this canal. 
For six weeks several thousand hands were incessantly at 
work upon it, and the whole nation watched with eager- 
ness the result of the enterprise. It does not appear that 
General Grant had any great confidence in its success. 
But it was necessary to keep the army employed. He had 
other plans in view which could not then be executed. 
For many weeks four thousand soldiers and a large num- 
ber of negroes were employed upon this work, cutting a 
trench ten feet wide, six feet deep, and about three 
miles long. It was supposed that the opening of this 
trench would turn the current of the river, changing its 
channel. 

The work was nearly completed when, on the 8th of 
March, there was a sudden rise in the river. The dam at 
the head of the canal broke away ; the water rushed in ; 
and, instead of sweeping through the canal, obstinately 
chose its own course, and, flowing in all directions, inun- 
dated the low and marshy ground and submerged the 
camps. The troops were compelled to flee for their lives, 
and many of the horses were swept away and drowned. 
This disaster, and the fact that the rebels had succeeded 
in planting heavy guns which enfiladed the canal, caused 
the enterprise to be abandoned. 

At the same time that this work was in progress, Gen- 



92 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

eral Grant sent a large body of men to a point seventy 
miles north from Vicksburg, to "cut a short canal from 
the river west to a sheet of water called Lake Providence, 
which was formerly the bed of the river. This lake was • 
connected, from its southern extremity, with Swan Lake, 
by a bayou filled with snags and winding through the 
tangled forest. Swan Lake found an outlet into the 
Tensas River. Through this stream, boats could pass into 
the Black River, and thence into the Red River, which en- 
tered the Mississippi far below Vicksburg. To open this 
channel for the passage of the boats through the labyrinth 
of streams and bayous on the west of the Mississippi, it 
was apparently only necessary to cut a canal through the 
morass along a channel which the river formerly oc- 
cupied, dig out a few shallows, cut away a few snags, 
sawyers, and windfalls, and thus to open a new Mississippi, 
parallel to the old one. 

Stupendous as this plan appeared, it was by no means 
irrational. The river is ever changing its old channels, 
and finding new ones. The region here to be traversed, 
through pathless morasses and stagnant bayous and tan- 
gled forests, was as gloomy as the imagination can con- 
ceive. Newspaper correspondents kept the nation in- 
formed of all these movements. The progress of the 
work was watched with the liveliest interest. At last 
the canal was successfully opened. A few barges entered 
Lake Providence. Success seemed very hopeful. Expe- 
rienced engineers and axemen accompanied the pioneer 
fleet. The puff of the steamer echoed along those silent 
streams buried in gloom, which even the Indian's canoe 
had never penetrated. But at last a drought came. 
There was no depth of water in the lagoons ; and the 
enterprise was of necessity abandoned. 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBUKG. 93 

But General Grant was never discouraged. Whatever 
lie undertook, he was bound in some way to accomplish. 
He now turned his attention to the east side of the riyef. 
One hundred and fifty miles north of Vicksburg, and 
nearly opposite Helena, there is, but a few hundred yards 
from the eastern shore of the river, what is called Moon 
Lake. From the southern extremity of this long sheet of 
water, Yazoo Pass leads into Coldwater Eiver, and this into 
the Tallahatchie, and this into the Yazoo River, which 
enters the Mississippi just above Vicksburg. The mouth 
of the Yazoo was so strongly guarded by rebel batteries 
that our transports could by no possibility ascend it, to 
place our troops in a position to gain the rear of Vicks- 
burg. It was deemed possible, that, by cutting a canal 
into Moon Lake, a way might be opened for the transports, 
through those clogged and winding streams, into the Ya- 
zoo, so far above the rebel intrenchments as to enable 
them to land troops where they could march upon Vicks- 
burg in the rear. 

This route had formerly been used in passing from the 
Mississippi to the Yazoo. But, as the swellings of the 
great river often overflowed the very extensive alluvial 
region found there, the State of Mississippi had construct- 
ed a strong levee, which cut off the entrance to the pass. 
This levee was cut on the 2d of February ; and a wide 
channel opened by the explosion of a mine. The torrent 
rushed in, cutting a channel so deep and wide that in 
two days there was a river pouring into Moon Lake 
through which the largest steamers could pass. 

But the rebels, from whom these operations could not 
be concealed, were busy lower down accumulating vast 
obstructions. The forest was extremely luxuriant with 
tangling underbrush and a dense growth of gigantic 



94 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

trees. These trees, consisting of cotton-wood, oak, elm, 
sycamore, and pecan-wood, were felled in great numbers 
across the narrow path. Most of this timber was very 
solid and heavy, and would not float. Filling the stream 
with their enormous interlacing branches, they formed 
obstructions of the most formidable nature. These ex- 
tended for miles. One of these barricades was a mile and 
a quarter in length, composed of mammoth trees which 
extended entirely across the stream. Many of these 
giants of the forest weighed twenty tons. If cut in pieces, 
they would sink, and still clog the channel. They had 
therefore to be drawn out by main force. In all this 
work of obstruction, the rebels found efficient aid in the 
forced labor of the slaves. 

The Union troops were much embarrassed by the fact 
that nearly the whole country was submerged, leaving 
only a narrow strip of land forming the banks of the 
streams. After long and tedious work, the passage was 
opened from Moon Lake to the Coldwater. But the ene- 
my had, in the meantime, reared still more formidable 
obstructions, protected by heavy batteries farther below. 

On the 24th of February, General Ross entered the pass 
with twenty-two light transports, conveying forty-five 
hundred men. The expedition was convoyed by two iron- 
clad gunboats and several light-armored craft, which 
could run in very shallow water, and which were signifi- 
cantly called " the mosquito fleet." The naval force was 
under Lieutenant-Commander Watson Smith. On the 
2d of March, the fleet reached the Coldwater. 

This river is about one hundred feet wide, and runs 
through a dense and solitary wilderness a distance of 
about forty miles, when it enters the Tallahatchie, — a 
stream so broad and deep that it could not be easily ob- 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBUBG. 95 

structed. The steamers drifted cautiously down upon 
the swift current, using their paddle-wheels often to re- 
tard their speed. To avoid ambuscades, and the many 
other perils of the unknown navigation, they tied their 
boats to the shore at night. This romantic navigation of 
a tortuous, swift, and unexplored river, traversing an un- 
broken forest, now rippling over sand-bars, now expand- 
ing into a lake, now contracted into a narrow channel, 
was safely accomplished through a distance of two hun- 
dred miles. 

General Grant, encouraged by this success, hoped to 
be able to transport his whole army by this route to the 
Yazoo River, above Haines's Bluff. The round-about dis- 
tance from Milliken's Bend was about nine hundred miles. 
First, a single division, under General Quimby, was sent 
to the support of General Ross ; soon after, General Mc- 
Pherson, with his whole corps, was ordered to filter the 
pass as soon as suitable transportation could be obtained. 
The Tallahatchie River receives a tributary, called the 
Yallabusha, at a point near which is found the small town 
of Greenwood. The two streams united form the Yazoo. 

Here the rebels had erected a battery which they 
called Fort Pemberton. It was placed "upon low land, 
but a few feet above the water ; for nothing like a hill 
can be found in this dreary region. Indeed the bat- 
tery, which included two heavy guns, and which com- 
manded both the land and the water approaches from the 
north, was so low in position that it was nearly sur- 
rounded by the flood, rendering a land attack impossible. 

The iron-clads approached within a range of about 
eight hundred yards, and opened fire. There was also a 
small battery placed upon the shore, to co-operate. But 
the rebel works were found too strong to be carried by 



96 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

any force there at our command. In the brief battle 
which ensued, one vessel was disabled, six men were 
killed and twenty-five wounded. The rebels lost but one 
man killed and twenty wounded. 

A rise of two feet of water would drown the garrison 
out. It was thought that cutting the levee on the 
Mississippi, three hundred miles distant, might accomplish 
this purpose. The majestic river was then rushing to 
the ocean in the full strength of its spring flood. The 
levee was cut, eighteen miles above Helena. The mighty 
torrent poured in, and spread over leagues of space ; but, 
refusing to take the line of the Coldwater and the Talla- 
hatchie, left the little garrison at Greenwood still on 
land elevated two feet above the flood. In the meantime 
the rebels were hurrying troops from Vicksburg to 
Greenwood, and General Grant became alarmed for 
General Ross's expedition. His troops were in danger 
of being surrounded and cut off in the tangled network 
of forest and bayou through which he was struggling. 

To relieve General Ross, and at the same time to gain 
a position in the rear of Vicksburg, another expedient 
was adopted. Our gunboats held the mouth of the 
Yazoo River for a distance of about seven miles from its 
entrance into the Mississippi. Above this rose Haines's 
Bluffs, frowning with batteries which our boats could not 
pass. • But just below these bluffs, near the point where 
the river enters the Mississippi, Steele's Bayou enters the 
Yazoo from the north. There was opened here a laby- 
rinthine route, which, after innumerable windings, con- 
ducted one into the Yazoo River again, sixty miles above 
the bluff. The weird-like passage led from Steele's Bayou 
to Black Bayou ; thence through Deer Creek, the Roll- 
ing Fork, the Big Sunflower, and the Sunflower, into the 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBURG. 97 

Yazoo. General Grant accompanied Admiral Porter on 
a reconnoissance up these streams. The principal ob- 
structions they encountered were from the overhanging 
trees. Both the general and the admiral concluded that 
the boats could be sent through by that route. General 
Grant returned to Milliken's Bend, to press forward the 
expedition. He said, — 

" If we can get boats in the rear of the enemy in time, 
it will so confuse them as to save Ross's force. If not, 
I shall feel restless for his fate until I know that Q nimby 
has reached him." 

Could this plan have succeeded, the garrison at Fort 
Pemberton would have found themselves between the 
two national forces, and would have been compelled to a 
surrender or to a hasty evacuation. About thirty steam- 
ers of the enemy, which had ascended to those higher 
waters, would also have been captured. 

On the 16th of March, General Sherman, with Stuart's 
division, set out on this enterprise. Admiral Porter led 
the expedition, with five iron-clads and four mortar-boats. 
General Grant sent a despatch to General Quimby, in- 
forming him of the movement, and urging him to press 
forward to the support of General Ross. General Sher- 
man's troops ascended the Mississippi in large transports 
about thirty miles, to Eagle Bend. Here they were 
landed, and, marching across a neck of land about a mile 
in width, were received on board the transports, which 
ascended the bayou to meet them. They were com- 
pelled on their march to traverse a swamp, over much of 
which they could only pass by building floating bridges. 
Reaching the stream, they found the channel, as they 
advanced, much obstructed by drift timber. The chan- 
nel was so narrow, and the turns so short, that it was 

7 



98 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

often with the greatest difficulty that the unwieldy iron- 
clads could work around the bends. At one time it 
required twenty-four hours to advance four miles. The 
gunboats were furnished with very powerful engines ; and, 
though moving slowly, they advanced with apparently 
resistless power, crushing saplings, bushes, and drift- 
wood beneath them, and breaking down the gigantic 
branches of the trees which swept their decks. 

" I never yet saw," says Admiral Porter, " vessels so 
well adapted to knocking down trees or demolishing 
bridges." At length it was found that the more frail 
transports could proceed no farther ; and the troops were 
transferred to tugs and coal-barges. Thus they crept 
slowly along over this blending waste of forest and 
water, until they approached the Rolling Fork. Here 
Admiral Porter, on the 20th of March, found his progress 
impeded by a barricade of heavy trees felled in his 
front. As he commenced removing these obstructions, 
the rebels, four thousand in number, opened fire upon 
him from the swamps around. They had several pieces 
of artillery, and their sharpshooters were concealed be- 
hind the trees. They had a large number of negroes 
with them, whom they compelled, by threats of death, to 
pile up these obstructions in front and in rear of the 
boats. Admiral Porter's heavy guns were of but little 
avail against such an assault. The land-forces were 
several miles below, laboriously following in the path 
which the gun-boats had opened. The labor of remov- 
ing these obstructions, under artillery and musketry fire, 
was prodigious. But it was unfalteringly pushed on by 
day and by night. 

Admiral Porter sent a despatch to General Sherman, 
thirty miles below, to hasten to his assistance. This 



ADVANCE TO VICKSBUEG. 99 

energetic man immediately landed his troops ; and, 
though it was night, led them himself along the narrow 
bank of the river, which afforded the only practicable 
path of dry land. They groped through the cane-brakes 
by lighted torches. General Sherman very speedily, 
with his light artillery and his infantry, scattered the 
rebel skirmishers. 

But the further prosecution of the enterprise was now 
found to be impracticable. The enemy was in very con- 
siderable strength, both before them and behind them, 
with a large number of slaves who were compelled to 
co-operate, or throw up obstructions in front, and also in 
the rear to cut off their retreat. Hence it became neces- 
sary for the expedition to return. The stream was so 
narrow at this point that the iron-clads were compelled 
to back down with unshipped rudders, as there was no 
room to turn. General Sherman, with his land-force, 
protected them from the skirmishers who were crowding 
the forest. 

On the 27th, the expedition had safely returned to the 
vicinity of Vicksburg. Generals Ross and Quimby also 
withdrew from their perilous entanglements in safety ; 
and, by the latter part of March, the Union troops were 
again concentrated at Milliken's Bend. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 

Bitter Feeling towards General Grant. — President Lincoln approves his 
Course. — His Movement upon Vicksburg. — Opposition to his Plans. 
— March to New Carthage. — Self-reliance of General Grant. — Admi- 
ral Porter. — Enthusiasm of the Sailors. — Conflict on the River. — 
Running the Batteries. — Secessionist Revenge. 

[|HE marvellous and heroic attempts to cap- 
ture Vicksburg by digging canals and 
traversing bayous was now ended. " What 
next ? " was the anxious inquiry of the 
nation. " Nothing," was the response of 
unbelieving ones in the North. " The works," they said, 
" are impregnable. There is no power in the national 
government that can take them." General Grant re- 
mained — as usual — silent. He was not in the slightest 
degree disheartened. He had never placed his main 
reliance upon any of these undertakings. In anticipa- 
tion of their not improbable failure, other plans were 
already matured in his mind. But these, his final plans, 
could not be consummated until the summer drought 
should come on, when the marshy land opposite Vicks- 
burg could be traversed by the troops. While waiting 
for this, General Grant had very wisely engaged in the 
enterprises we have enumerated. They presented at 
least a fair chance of success. They occupied the army ; 
100 



RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 101 

they interested the whole country, and gave food for its 
hopes. Had General Grant encamped his troops at 
Milliken's Bend, and waited inertly through these 
months, the whole country would have risen in rebellion 
against him. Had he revealed his ultimate plan, the 
rebels would have adopted very energetic, and probably 
effectual, measures to prevent its execution. 

General Grant was well aware of the necessity of the 
most prompt and energetic action ; for the country was 
beginning to be very jestless. Multitudes were clamor- 
ing for his removal. The president was besieged with 
petitions, and almost with demands, that General Grant 
should be laid aside, and some other one assigned to his 
place. But Abraham Lincoln had a peculiar instinct, 
which enabled him to judge correctly of men. It is pos- 
sible, but not probable, that the reticent general had con- 
fided to him his plans. At all events, President Lincoln 
turned a deaf ear to all the clamor raised against General 
Grant, quietly remarking, " I rather like the man : I 
think we'll try him a little longer." 

The rebels were now exultant, and insolent in their 
taunts, as they stood at their guns at Vicksburg. Jeffer- 
son Davis pronounced the fortress to be the Gibraltar 
of America. But the Gibraltar was destined soon to 
fall. General Sherman, ever the noble co-operator with 
General Grant, was exceedingly anxious in view of the 
posture of affairs. He rode to General Grant's head- 
quarters, and urged that the only way of attacking 
Vicksburg was to approach it from the north. " That," 
replied General Grant, " would require a retrograde 
movement to Memphis. I am determined to take no 
backward step. The country would be discouraged by 
it, and it is in no temper to endure such a reverse." 



102 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Grant's plan, as the time for its execution 
arrived, was communicated to his staff-officers. It is not 
known that one of them approved of it. Nearly all op- 
posed it as a fatal error. Perhaps there is not another 
man in the nation who would have conceived it in its 
details. Even the president, notwithstanding all his con- 
fidence in General Grant, followed his movements with 
great anxiety and surprise, fearing he had committed an 
irretrievable fault. The triumphant success of the enter- 
prise has proved its wisdom ; for this success was not the 
result of accident, but of combinations, the efficiency of 
which all can now comprehend. 

The plan which General Grant proposed, which he had 
thoroughly considered and decided upon, was to have 
some of the naval fleet run the batteries at Yicksburg. 
He would at the same time move his army, by a rapid 
march through the forest on the western banks, to New 
Carthage, a few miles below the rebel batteries. The 
boats there would be ready to convey his troops across 
the river to Warrenton. He would then find good roads, 
by which he would advance rapidly to the investment of 
Vicksburg in the rear ; while the gunboats, both above 
and below, would assail the works from the river, in front 
of Yicksburg. 

To this plan nearly all objected. It was opposed with 
seemingly unanswerable arguments. 

" This movement," it was said, " will effectually sun- 
der the army from the North and from all its supplies. 
An almost impregnable fortress will be between our army 
and its base. If failure come, there is no retreat ; and the 
ruin will be entire." 

General Sherman wrote upon this occasion a letter to 
General Grant, proposing a different plan, but closing with 



ItUNNING THE BATTERIES. 103 

these words, so characteristic of the magnanimity of the 
writer : — 

" I make these suggestions, with the request that Gen- 
eral Grant simply read them, and give them, as I know 
lie will, a share of his thoughts. I would prefer that he 
should not answer them, but give them as much or as 
little weight as they deserve. Whatever plan of action 
he may adopt will receive from me the same zealous 
co-operation as though conceived by myself." 

It is greatly to the honor of General Grant's subordi- 
nates, that, as soon as they found that he had definitely 
settled upon his plan, they, without a murmuring word, 
gave it the support of their utmost energies. 

The whole national force was now concentrated at 
Milliken's Bend. As soon as the spring flood had so 
far subsided that the troops could advance by land 
through the morasses which line the western shores of 
the river, General Grant ordered a secret and rapid 
movement of his troops — concealed from observation by 
the forest — to the little town of New Carthage, about 
thirty miles below the batteries at Vicksburg. Even 
then, the water in the river was four and a half inches 
higher than the road ; which road was only twenty inches 
above the water in the impenetrable morass spreading 
out, apparently without bounds, to the west: It was found 
needful to construct several bridges across the swollen 
bayous. 

The vast complications involved in these plans seemed 
all to be easily grasped by the mind of General Grant. 
His watchful eye was everywhere. While maturing these 
schemes of an advance upon Vicksburg, he wrote to Gen- 
eral Hurlburt, — 

"It seems to me that Grierson, with about five him- 



104 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

dred picked men, might succeed in cutting his way south, 
and cut the railroad east of Jackson, Miss. This under- 
taking would be a hazardous one ; but it would pay well, 
if carried out." . 

This was probably the first inception of that magnifi- 
cent raid which has given the gallant little band led by 
Colonel Grierson world-wide renown. The successful 
accomplishment of this plan, which was commenced in 
the middle of April, destroyed for a time the only rail- 
road by which the garrison at Vicksburg held communi- 
cation with the interior of the rebel States. It operated 
as a very powerful diversion in favor of General Grant's 
new campaign. Colonel Grierson with his bold riders 
swept over a path six hundred miles in length, tore up 
fifty miles of railroad, broke down telegraph wires, de- 
stroyed three thousand stands of arms, and captured five 
hundred prisoners. His loss was but three killed and 
seven wounded. 

General McClernand, with the Eleventh Army Corps, 
led the advance through the morass in the march to New 
Carthage. It was a toilsome and perilous undertaking ; 
but, with able and energetic leaders and devoted soldiers, 
it was heroically accomplished. The heavy artillery 
wheels cut through the saturated soil, soon rendering 
the path an entire slough. Through this mire, horses 
and men waded knee-deep, and the hubs of the wheels 
often disappeared from sight. Much of the way, it was 
necessary to build corduroy roads. It was needful to 
guard with the utmost care twenty miles of levee, lest 
it should be cut by the enemy, and the whole country 
be inundated. 

Notwithstanding every precaution, the rebels had got 
some intimation of the movement ; and, as they ap- 



RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 105 

proached New Carthage, they found the levee cut, and 
the inrushing flood had spread out into a lake, which, sur- 
rounding New Carthage, converted it into an island. But 
General Grant had inspired his troops with his own silent, 
indomitable energy. Undismayed by the appalling pros- 
pect before them, they pressed on, now creeping along a 
little elevation of the land, now wading shallow plains, 
now bridging roaring floods, now constructing miles of 
corduroy road, till finally they reached their destination. 
A position was taken at Perkins's Landing, twelve miles 
below New Carthage. 

The army was now south of Vicksburg. That frown- 
ing fortress seemed to cut off all its communication with 
the North. It would be almost impossible for the army 
to retrace its steps. It would be extremely difficult, if 
not impossible, to transport provisions and military sup- 
plies over the long and pathless marsh through which 
the army had waded. Was the army ruined? Many 
said, " Yes." Was it on a sure path to victory ? The re- 
sult will show. 

As General Grant stood at Perkins's Landing, looking 
upon the rushing flood of the Mississippi before him, with 
no transports to cross the stream, and conscious that the 
batteries of Vicksburg were strong as rebel skill and 
strength could make them, he must have had great confi- 
dence in his own resources not to have been appalled in 
view of the peril before him. But he did have that con- 
fidence ; and no one could discern in his quiet demeanor, 
or in his placid features, the slightest intimation of a fear 
or of a doubt. 

It was now necessary to attempt to run the batteries 
with gunboats, and also with barges laden with provis- 
ions. The stoutest heart might be excused from recoil- 



106 . LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ing from the dangers of such an adventure. Fortu- 
nately for General Grant, Admiral Porter, whose courage 
never waned, and whose energy never abated, was not 
only ready, but eager, to co-operate with the commander- 
in-chief in his boldest plans. " I am happy to say," 
wrote General Grant, " that the admiral and myself have 
never yet disagreed upon any policy." 

There is some little diversity in the accounts which are 
given of the number and character of the boats which 
were engaged in this enterprise. After a careful exami- 
nation of these narratives, it seems to me that the follow- 
ing account must be nearly accurate : " The Forest 
Queen," " The Henry Clay," and " The Silver Wave " 
were heavily laden with military stores. These were plain, 
wooden boats. Speed was essential to their safety ; and also 
interior capaciousness, for conveying supplies below, and 
also for transporting the troops across the river. The 
boilers were carefully protected by bales of cotton and of 
wet hay. The engines were put in the best possible 
running order, and an ingenious contrivance was adopted 
to prevent any gleam of the fire from appearing, to guide 
the guns of the foe. 

The undertaking was regarded as so hazardous that it 
was not thought right to order men to engage in it. 
Volunteers were called for. So many came forward, 
eager for the enterprise, that it was necessary for the 
aspirants to abide the decision of the lot. The excite- 
ment was intense, to see who would be the favored ones. 
Pilots, engineers, firemen, deck-hands, were clamorous 
with their proffered services. A boy, who had drawn 
what he deemed a prize, was offered a hundred dollars 
for his chance, and rejected the offer. He stood exult- 
ingly at his post, and passed the batteries in safety. 



RUNNING THE BATTERIES, B 107 

Eight gunboats and the transports were concealed in a 
bend in the river, where they were prepared for the trying 
ordeal. The plan was to select a very dark night, and 
then to send down the gunboats to take position in front 
of Vicksburg, and open upon the batteries a terrific fire. 
Under cover of this fire, and in some degree sheltered by 
the iron-clads, the transports were to endeavor to run by, 
with the utmost speed. 

The night of the 16th of April was moonless and dark. 
A little before midnight, all the lights had disappeared in 
Vicksburg, and silence and gloom reigned undisturbed 
over both the river and the land. One after another the 
huge, shadowy masses emerged from their concealment, 
and as cautiously as possible steamed down the river. 
Admiral Porter led the way with " The Benton." The other 
iron-clads followed in a line. The three transports then 
crept along, keeping as near as possible to the western 
bank. General Grant took his stand in a transport in 
the middle of the river, to watch the operation. The 
portion of the patriot army remaining at the bend, some 
upon the shore and others upon the boats, watched with 
breathless silence the heroic little fleet as it glided away 
into the impenetrable darkness. 

Nearly three-quarters of an hour elapsed, when a 
brilliant flash was seen, followed by a roar which shook 
the hills. The rebels had opened fire. In another in- 
stant the whole line of the bluff was ablaze with meteoric 
flashes, followed by battle's loudest thunders. The iron- 
clads were soon all in position, and vigorously responded. 
Under cover of the smoke, the darkness, and the tumult 
of the contest, the transports — hugging the Louisiana 
shore — rushed on at the top of their speed. 

But, suddenly, new gleams of light appeared; and im- 



108 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT 

mense piles of rubbish and combustibles, prepared for 
such an event, burst into flame, converting night into 
day. The whole plan was now revealed, and the bat- 
teries turned many of their guns upon the transports. 
" The Forest Queen " soon received two shots, which so dis- 
abled her that she floated helpless down the stream. 
But one of the gunboats took her in charge, and towed 
her safely to New Carthage. " The Henry Clay " was struck 
by a shell, which set her cotton on fire. She was soon 
enveloped in a blaze, and floated down the rapid river a 
mountain of flame. The crew took to the boats, and 
escaped to the Louisiana shore. Here they concealed 
themselves behind the levee during the cannonade, and 
the next day made their way back through the sub- 
merged swamps to their camp. It is said that General 
Sherman, who was watching the bombardment in a small 
boat, picked up the pilot as he floated from the wreck.* 
" The Henry Clay " was burned to the water's edge. " The 
Silver Wave " fortunately escaped untouched. And the 
whole of the eight iron-clads maintained their battle, and 
passed the batteries without incurring any serious injury. 
For an hour and a half the conflict raged. The bat- 
teries lined the bluff for a distance of eight miles. As 
the little fleet, with the loss of but one transport, passed 
beyond the range of the guns, silence and darkness again 
ensued. The midnight tempest of battle, which had so 
suddenly burst forth, as suddenly subsided. And the 
dark river flowed by the beleaguered city, as calm, as 
peaceful, as if its echoes had never been awakened by the 
pealing thunders of war. The slight injuries which the 
boats had received were speedily repaired by volunteer 
mechanics stepping forth from the ranks. 

* Military History of General Ulysses S. Grant. 



KUNNING THE BATTERIES. 109 

" It is a striking feature," says General Grant, " so 
far as my observation goes, of the present volunteer 
army of the United States, that there is nothing which 
men are called upon to do, mechanical or professional, 
that accomplished adepts cannot be found for the duty 
required, in almost every regiment." 

General McClernand had led the advance to Perkins's 
Landing, where he was awaiting with intense anxiety 
the result of the attempt to run the batteries. The first 
indication the troops had of the fate of the fleet was in the 
smouldering wreck of "The Henry Clay "drifting down 
the stream. A rich old rebel, whose magnificent estate 
was near by, was so jubilant that he could not repress his 
exultation. Rubbing his hands with delight, he came to 
General McClernand, and said, — 

" Where are your gunboats now ? Vicksburg has put 
an end to them all." 

But scarcely had the morning dawned ere the whole 
little fleet, one boat after another, appeared around a 
bend in the river. They were greeted with as heartfelt 
cheers as ever burst from human lips. The Yankees 
now in turn inquired of the crest-fallen secessionist, 
" Where now are our gunboats ? Has Vicksburg de- 
stroyed them?" The miserable old man, obdurate in 
his rebellion, was so chagrined that in his rage he de- 
clared that the Yankees should never take shelter in his 
house. With his own hands he applied the torch. In an 
hour the splendid mansion, with all its surrounding 
buildings, was in ashes. 

None but those who witnessed these scenes can im- 
agine how dreadful the desolation caused by this war, so 
wantonly provoked by those who were crushed by its 
footsteps. The utter ruin of this man's magnificent 



110 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

estate may be given as an example of the fate which 
overwhelmed thousands of others. 

" His plantation was one of the loveliest in Louisiana. 
High enough to be secure from inundation, it overlooked 
the meanderings of the Mississippi for nearly fifty miles. 
Wide savannas teemed with the wealth of the corn and 
the cotton plant, while the spacious lawns were clad in 
all the charms of precocious summer in this balmy 
clime. Japan plums and fig-trees grew in the open air, 
and groves of magnolia and oleander bloomed. The 
softness of the atmosphere, redolent with unfamiliar 
fragrance, and the aspect of the landscape, brilliant with 
blossoms and verdure, enchanted the soldiers. ' Here at 
last,' they cried, ; we have found the sunny South.' Bat 
desolation and destruction fell like a storm-cloud over 
the scene. In a few hours a blackened pile was all that 
remained of the stately mansion. The broad plantation 
became a camping-ground. The venerable trees in which 
it was embosomed were hewn down for fire-wood, and the 
secluded fields were speedily transformed into a confused 
and bustling bivouac." * 

The success of this experiment in running the bat- 
teries was so gratifying, that, a few days after, six more 
transports were sent down the stream, towing twelve 
barges, loaded with forage. One of these transports, " The 
Tigress," received a shot below the water-line, and sunk 
on the Louisiana shore. The rest, with one-half of the 
barges, got through with but trifling damage. The army 
was now prepared to move, General Grant intending 
mainly to supply its wants from the agricultural abun- 
dance of the country through which he was to march. 

* Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, by Adam Badeau. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE MARCH TO THE REAR. 



Bombardment of Grand Gulf. — Crossing at Bruinsburg. — Friendly Ne- 
groes. — Advance upon Port Gibson. — The Battle. — Repulse of the Foe. 
— Flight and Consternation. — Grant's Despatches. — His Caution and 
Dangsr. — Personal Habits. — Testimony of General Badeau. 




PEW miles below Perkins's Landing, where 
the Union army was gathered, there is the 
town of Grand Gulf, on the eastern bank of 
the Mississippi. The great object now was 
to cross the river. The rebels were watch- 
ing with great diligence to oppose this movement. The 
troops were marched down the west banks of the river 
to a place oddly called Hard Times. They were now 
seventy miles below Milliken's Bend. About ten thou- 
sand of the troops were taken down the river in trans- 
ports. Thorough reconnoissances were made of the east- 
ern shore, to find a suitable place for the landing of the 
troops. It was decided that Grand Gulf was the spot 
most feasible for this purpose. The rebels were aware 
of this, and had erected strong batteries to prevent the 
operation. The plan was for the gunboats to silence the 
batteries, and immediately the troops were to be landed 
from the transports at the foot of the bluff, and carry the 
works by storm. Ten thousand soldiers were crowded 
into the transports, and conveyed to a point in the river 

in 



112 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

nearly opposite Grand Gulf, but just out of range of its 
guns. There they awaited impatiently the result of the 
bombardment. General Grant directed the minutest 
details of these movements, anticipating every obstacle, 
and providing for every emergence. The difficulties to 
be surmounted were immense ; and no one can read 
General Grant's despatches without being impressed with 
that comprehensiveness of mind which could grasp and 
master them all. 

On the morning of the 29th of April, Commodore 
Porter commenced the bombardment with seven iron- 
clads and one ordinary gunboat. The rebels had thirteen 
heavy guns in battery, supported by a series of rifle-pits. 
For five and a half hours a very vigorous fire was kept 
up on both sides. General Grant, who anxiously 
watched the battle from a tug in the middle of the 
stream, says, — 

" Many times it seemed to me that the gunboats were 
within pistol-shot of the enemy's batteries." 

The attempt, however, proved unsuccessful. The guns 
of the enemy were in so elevated a position that all the 
valor and energy of Commodore Porter's fleet were 
unavailing in the attempt to silence them. Not one gun 
was dismounted. The fleet, however, did not experience 
any serious injury. The idea of attempting to land the 
troops in the face of these unsilenced batteries was not 
to be cherished for a moment. But General Grant was 
prepared for the casualty. He had previously decided 
what to do, should the gunboats fail in accomplishing 
their purpose. Grant, like Napoleon, so matured his 
plans that he had always decided just what to do in case 
of defeat, however confident he might be of victory. 

A previous reconnoissance had disclosed to him, that 



MARCH TO THE REAR. 113 

there was a good landing about six miles below, at Bru- 
insburg.' -With his accustomed promptness he requested 
Commodore Porter, that very night, again to attack the 
batteries. Under cover of this fire, all the transports suc- 
ceeded in running the batteries. At the same time the 
troops on shore marched down to the appointed rendez- 
vous, where the gunboats soon joined them. They were 
immediately ferried across the river. General Grant was 
the first one to step upon the bank. The landing of the 
whole force at Bruinsburg was effected without the loss 
of a single man. 

We cannot refrain from mentioning here an incident 
illustrative of the unjust obloquy to which military men 
are often exposed. The incident also remarkably devel- 
ops the magnanimity of those truly great men, Generals 
Grant and Sherman. 

When General Grant was about to make an attack 
upon Grand Gulf, he wished to distract the attention of 
the enemy at Vicksburg, to prevent him from sending 
re-enforcements to the batteries below. General Sherman 
was then in command of the troops still left at Milliken's 
Bend. General Grant wrote to him, stating the advan- 
tage which would accrue from a threatening movement 
upon Haines's Bluff. In the letter, he said, — 

" A vigorous demonstration in that direction would be 
good, so far as the enemy is concerned ; but I am loth to 
order it, because it would be so hard to make our own 
troops understand that only a demonstration was intend- 
ed, and our people at home would characterize it as a 
repulse." 

General Sherman, who had already suffered very 
severely from newspaper assaults, regardless of his own 
reputation if he could serve his country, nobly replied, — 

8 



114 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

" I believe a diversion at Haines's Bluff is proper and 
right ; and I will make it, let whatever report of repulses 
be made." 

He did make the attack, with ten regiments and eight 
gunboats. The troops were landed. Reconnoissances 
were sent out. Ostentatious dispositions of the troops 
were made for the mock battle. The enemy was greatly 
alarmed. His troops were hurriedly moved to and fro. 
General Sherman, having accomplished his purpose, with- 
drew without the loss of a man to Milliken's Bend ; and 
his enemies shouted over his defeat. He then marched 
rapidly down the river with his command, to join his 
comrades in their march towards the rear of Vicksburg. 

Scarcely had General Grant landed at Bruinsburg, in 
a country almost entirely unknown to him, ere friendly 
negroes gathered around, giving much valuable informa- 
tion, and offering to pilot him by a good road to Port 
Gibson, a small town in the rear of Grand Gulf, a dis- 
tance of twelve miles from Bruinsburg. This was the 
direct route to Vicksburg. The capture of Port Gibson 
would compel the evacuation of the batteries at Grand 
Gulf. The enemy was now fully alive to the momentous 
issues at stake. They were concentrating their troops 
from all quarters, to assail the audacious invaders who 
were thus penetrating the very heart of rebeldom. Not 
a moment was to be lost, lest the rebels should gather in 
strength for the defence of Port Gibson. 

General McClernand was immediately despatched with 
the advance, with three days' rations in their haversacks. 
They had not a tent or a wagon. General Grant re- 
quired no greater sacrifices of his troops than he was 
ready to make himself. 

" He took with him," says the Hon. Mr. Washburne, 



MARCH TO THE REAR. 115 

of Illinois, who accompanied the expedition, " neither a 
horse, nor an orderly, nor a camp-chest, nor an over- 
coat, nor a blanket, nor even a clean shirt. His entire 
baggage for six days was a tooth-brush. He fared like 
the commonest soldier in his command, partaking of his 
rations and sleeping upon the ground with no covering 
but the canopy of heaven." 

By the feint which General Sherman had so effectually 
made against Haines's Bluff, the foe was prevented from 
sending re-enforcements to join the garrison at Grand 
Gulf. At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 30th of 
April, — the very day on which the troops landed at Bru- 
insburg, — General McClernand, with the advance, com- 
menced his march. The road led first, for a couple of 
miles, along the levee ; then, turning to the east, it wound 
through a hilly country covered with forest, — broken, pre- 
cipitous, and rugged. It was the spring of the year ; and, 
in that almost tropical clime, the weather was excessively 
warm. The region was surpassingly beautiful. Flowers 
bloomed all around, and bird-songs and fragrance filled the 
air. The gorgeous military array, winding through the 
valleys and climbing the hills, added much to the pictur- 
esque impressiveness of the scene. 

The night was serene and brilliant ; and, being so much 
cooler than the day, the troops pressed joyously on until 
two o'clock in the morning. Here they came in sudden 
contact with a rebel battery which frowned from an emi- 
nence directly before them. It was composed of a part 
of the garrison from Grand Gulf, who had stationed them- 
selves there, hoping to check the advance until re-enforce- 
ments should arrive from Vicksburg. General Bowen, 
in command, had about eleven thousand men in line of 
battle. It was necessary to wait until morning before 



11G LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

commencing the attack. With the earliest dawn the 
position of the rebels was carefully examined. Here, 
again, the ever-friendly negro came to our aid. General 
McClernand was informed that the rebels had seized upon 
a point where the road forked ; but, the two roads run- 
ning nearly parallel, each conducted along narrow ridges 
to Port Gibson. The ravines on either side of these roads 
were tangled with forest and under-brush, protecting from 
a flank attack the rebels, who occupied both of the roads. 
The only alternative for General McClernand was to re- 
treat or to cut his way through. He was the last man 
to think of a retreat, and made immediate preparations 
for the assault. The position of the rebels was impreg- 
nable. By a direct attack General McClernand, with the 
re-enforcements which soon arrived, could bring nineteen 
thousand men into the battle. But, notwithstanding his 
superiority in numbers, the commanding position occu- 
pied by the rebels gave them the decided advantage. 

General McClernand in person led the assault upon 
the right, aided by Generals Hovey, Carr, and Smith. 
General Osterhaus, aided by a division of McPherson's 
corps, under General Logan of Illinois, attacked upon the 
left. A battle — a desperate, prolonged, and bloody bat- 
tle — ensued. About ten o'clock General Grant arrived, 
and took the command. Late in the afternoon, by a 
vigorous combined charge, the entire line of the enemy 
was broken and swept away ; and they retreated precipi- 
tately towards Port Gibson, leaving their dead and wound- 
ed on the field. 

• The Union troops impetuously pursued till the dark- 
ness of night arrested their steps. They were then 
within two miles of Port Gibson. It was not deemed 
prudent to advance farther in an unknown country, and 



MARCH TO THE REAR. 117 

in the dark, lest they should fall into some ambuscade. 
General McClernand led in the pursuit. The enemy, as 
night closed in, seemed to be rallying for another stand. 
General Grant, however, thought it probable that under 
cover of the night they would again attempt to effect 
their retreat. His directions to General McClernand 
were, — 

" Push the enemy with skirmishers well thrown out 
until it gets too dark to see him. Then place your com- 
mand on eligible ground, wherever night finds you. 
Park your artillery so as to command the surrounding 
country, and renew the attack at early dawn. If possible, 
push the enemy from the field, or capture him. No 
camp-fires should be allowed, unless in deep ravines and 
in rear of the troops." 

By the moonlight of his bivouac the tentless general 
sent his despatch to the government, announcing his vic- 
tory. Our loss, he stated at about a hundred killed 
and five hundred wounded. He estimated the loss of the 
enemy as about equal to his own ; the foe having also 
lost six hundred and fifty who were taken prisoners, and 
six field-guns which were captured. 

The consternation with which the rebels were now 
seized may be inferred from the following telegram sent 
that night by the rebel General Pemberton to his superior 
officer, General Joseph E. Johnson : — 

" A furious battle has been going on since daylight 
just below Port Gibson. Enemy can cross all his army 
from Hard Times to Bruiiisburg. I should have large 
re-enforcements. Enemy's movements threaten Fort 
Jackson, and, if successful, cut off Port Gibson and Port 
Hudson." 

In the night, as General Grant had supposed, the rebel 



118 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

troops again retreated, and in the morning were no- 
where to be seen. They rapidly retired across the two 
forks of the Bayou Pierre, destroying the bridges behind 
them. The garrison at Grand Gulf, dismayed in find- 
ing themselves thus outflanked, precipitately abandoned 
their intrenchments, spiking their guns and destroying 
their ammunition. Our fleet immediately took posses- 
sion of the deserted works, and Grand Gulf became an 
important base for our supplies. 

General McClernand's troops, flushed with success, 
early the next morning entered Port Gibson, and imme- 
diately employed a heavy force in rebuilding the bridge 
across the south fork. Other troops, while this work 
was in operation, forded the bayou, and, led by General 
Logan, pursued the flying enemy. Re-enforcements were 
now pressing forward to the aid of our advance guard, 
and the onward movement was pushed with great vigor. 
General McPherson, General Logan, and General Crock- 
er were now all chasing, by different routes, the flying 
foe, who was retreating, thoroughly demoralized, and 
without ammunition. He was driven, without a mo- 
ment's respite, through Willow Springs, and across the 
Big Black River. 

With all this audacity and impetuosity of movement 
the utmost caution was observed, to guard against re- 
verses. Every possible contingency seems to have been 
considered and provided for. The soldiers now received 
the tidings of Colonel Grierson's successful and magnifi- 
cent raid. It filled the rebels with consternation, and ani- 
mated the Union soldiers with renewed zeal. General 
Grant had a fine army under his banners, — thirty-five 
thousand men, made doubly strong from its enthusiastic 
confidence in its leader. 



MAPwCH TO THE PEAK. 119 

" My army," lie wrote, " is composed of hardy and 
disciplined men, who know no defeat, and are not will- 
ing to learn what it is." 

It is said, that, during all the fatigues of this campaign, 
General Grant practised total abstinence from all intoxi- 
cating drinks. This is the testimony of those who were 
constantly with him. 

An officer of his staff, who must have been acquainted 
with his daily habits, wrote some time after this, — 

" If you could see the general as he sits just over 
beyond me, with his wife and two children, looking more 
like a chaplain than a general, with that quiet air so im- 
possible to describe, you would not ask me if he drinks. 
He rarely ever uses intoxicating liquors. He is more 
moderate in his habits and desires, and more pure and 
spotless in his private character, than almost any man I 
ever knew. He is more brave, has more power to com- 
mand, and more ability to plan, than any man I ever 
served under ; cool to excess when others lose nerve, 
always hopeful, always undisturbed, never failing to ac- 
complish what he undertakes." * 

In this connection, the following extracts from the pen 
of Major Penniman will be read with interest : — 

" I have seen him in the familiarity and seclusion of 
camp-life, and I know perfectly well what his personal 
habits are. He messes with his staff as he would with 
his own family. No intoxicating liquors are on the 
table at dinner or at any other time. It is not his habit 
to use them, nor does he encourage it in others. No 
man of all the hundreds of thousands he has commanded 
ever heard General Grant use profane language. One 

* General Grant and his Campaigns. By Julian K Larke, p. 466. 



120 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

of his highest meeds of praise consists in the fact, that, 
through all his commands to his present elevated post, he 
has had no jealousies, bickerings, or quarrels among his 
officers. He has the rare faculty of selecting the right 
man for the right place." 

All who know General Grant will testify alike to the 
remarkable purity and spotlessness of his personal char- 
acter. All will remember the playful remark of Presi- 
dent Lincoln when, soon after the capture of Vicksburg, 
some one alluded to the rumor that General Grant used 
intoxicating drinks to excess. 

" What kind of whiskey does he drink ? " inquired the 
president, with a peculiar twinkle of the eye. " Is it 
Bourbon, or Monongahela ? For, if it makes him win 
victories like this at Vicksburg, I should like to send a 
demijohn of the same kind to every general in the 
army." 

General Grant had come to the full conviction that the 
only way to conquer the Rebellion was to destroy its 
armies, and exhaust its resources. He had therefore 
resolved to support his troops, so far as possible, from 
the abundance of the regions he traversed. To most per- 
sons, the position of General Grant even now must have 
seemed very perilous. Many of his officers so regarded 
it. Under any ordinary commander, the situation would 
have been quite hopeless. The frowning batteries of 
Vicksburg were before him. Nearly sixty thousand men 
were gathered there, and along the line of the Vicksburg 
and Jackson Railroad. General Pemberton reported his 
numbers 59,411. Another rebel force, under General 
Gregg, was hurrying down from the north-east to 
strengthen the already formidable array assembled for 
the protection of Vicksburg. 



MARCH TO THE REAR. 121 

General Grant was in the heart of the enemy's country, 
with but thirty thousand men under his banners. The 
rebel army was much scattered, for it had long lines and 
important points to defend. General Grant's troops were 
concentrated, and could move almost with the impetus 
and momentum of a shell, ready at any moment to ex- 
plode, and carry devastation far and wide, lie decided 
first to hurl the whole weight of his columns upon Gregg, 
and crush him before he could effect a junction with 
Pemberton. The soldiers were provided with three days' 
rations, trusting to the country for forage. The utmost 
celerity and secrecy were essential. He did not confide 
his plan even to the general-in-chicf at Washington. In 
fact, the authorities there were appalled in view of his 
boldness. General Grant assumed the responsibility. 
There is something sublime in this solitary energy, 
unsustained by a single word of encouragement. 

" So Grant," says General Badeau, " was alone. His 
most trusted associates besought him to change his plans, 
while his superiors were astounded at his temerity, and 
strove to interfere. Soldiers of reputation and civilians 
in high place condemned in advance a campaign that 
seemed to them as hopeless as it was unprecedented. If 
he failed, the country would concur with the government 
and the generals. Grant knew all this, and appreciated 
his danger, but was as invulnerable to the apprehensions 
of ambition as to the entreaties of friendship or the 
anxieties even of patriotism. That quiet confidence which 
never forsook him, and which amounted indeed almost 
to a feeling of fate, was uninterrupted. Having once 
determined in a matter that required irreversible decision, 
he never reversed, nor even misgave ; but was steadily 
loyal to himself and his plans. This absolute and im- 



122 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

plicit faith was, however, as far as possible from conceit 
or enthusiasm. It was simply a consciousness, — or convic- 
tion rather, — which brought the very strength it believed 
in ; which was itself strength ; and which inspired others 
with a trust in him, because he was able thus to trust 
himself." * 

General Howard also has alluded to this strong con- 
viction, on the part of General Grant, that success would 
crown his endeavors. It is stated in a paragraph in " The 
New York Times " of February 18, — 

" General Howard says that General Grant is strictly a 
temperate man and religious. His marked characteristic 
is a wonderful faith in his success, amounting almost to 
the fatality in which Napoleon so strongly believed. Gen- 
eral Howard can be relied on." 

* Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, p. 222. 




CHAPTER X. 

THE ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBURG. 

Innumerable Cares of the General. — The March along the Eig Black. — 
Capture of Jackson. — Strategy and Tactics. — Youthful Combatants. 
— Advance upon Edwards's Station. — Battle of Champion Hill. — 
Capture of Edwards's Station. — Despatch from General Halleck. — 
Battle of Black-river Bridge. — Entire Discomfiture of the Foe. 

T is impossible to convey to the reader an 
idea of the innumerable thoughts and 
plans and anxieties which must have 
crowded the mind of General Grant. In 
military combinations, very much depends 
upon the faithful performance of all the details. Here 
there was to be a feint ; there, a direct assault. At one 
point, the enemy was to be deceived by a false movement. 
Again, scattered divisions were to be suddenly concen- 
trated upon some given position. Colonel Grierson's raid 
was a part of General Grant's campaign. Admiral 
Porter's expedition to the Red River was another act in 
the great drama. In this brief narrative it is impossible 
to trace out the complicated mazes of these movements, 
which, guided by one master-mind, were working out the 
grand result. It is almost bewildering to read the innu- 
merable despatches rapidly issued by General Grant, and 
embracing the most multiplied and varied combinations. 
The rebels, defeated at Port Gibson, had retreated 

123 



124 LIFE OF GENEKAL GRANT. 

across the Big Black River, where they made another 
stand and gathered re-enforcements. General Grant 
deceived them into the belief that he intended to follow 
and attack them there. He had now within call forty- 
three thousand men and a hundred and twenty guns. 
The rebel army was divided. A portion was on the 
right bank of the Big Black, gathering in strength to 
oppose the passage of General Grant's troops. General 
Joe Johnston was assembling another army at Jackson, 
tb rt capital of the State of Mississippi, — a very impor- 
tant strategical point,' at the junction of two railroads. 
Here the rebels had also accumulated a large magazine 
of supplies. 

Instead of crossing the Big Black, General Grant 
turned suddenly to the right, and marched rapidly along 
the eastern bank of the river. He cut loose entirely 
from his communication with Grand Gulf, and depended 
for supplies upon the country, and such stores as he could 
take with him. As he thus cut loose from his base, and 
plunged into the midst of his foes, he telegraphed to the 
government at Washington, " You will probably not hear 
from me for several days." The Union army, in two 
divisions, advanced by roads nearly parallel. Generals 
Sherman and McClernand took the right ; while General 
McPherson had command of the left, keeping close to 
the river, and threatening the railroad between Jackson 
and Vicksburg. Great precautions were adopted to con- 
ceal, as -far as possible, his movements from the enemy. 

It was General Grant's object to seize Jackson, destroy 
or disperse the rebel army assembled there, and capture 
the supplies. He would then turn with his whole force 
upon Vicksburg, and crush the army intrenched there. 
His plan was wisely conceived and magnificently accom- 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBUllG. 125 

plished. On the 12th of May, General Logan, of 
McPherson's division, encountered the foe within a few 
miles of Raymond, on the direct road to Jackson, and 
but about fifteen miles from that city. The rebels were 
about five thousand strong, advantageously posted in a 
piece of timber, with two batteries of artillery, which 
swept both the road and a bridge over which it was 
necessary for McPherson to pass. 

The battle was immediately opened with great vigor. 
Our troops, outnumbering the foe, speedily drove him 
from his position. Still it was a hard-fought battle, in 
which we lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, four hun- 
dred and forty. The loss of the enemy in killed and 
wounded was four hundred and five. We took also 
four hundred and fifteen prisoners, two pieces of cannon, 
and quite a quantity of small arms. 

The rebels fled through the streets of Raymond, hot- 
ly pursued by the Union troops. They retreated along 
the road which led by Mississippi Springs to Jackson. 
The country was rough, wild, and densely wooded. Gen- 
eral Grant had so deceived the rebels, that Pemberton 
had massed his forces at Edwards's Station, on the railroad 
running from Jackson to Vicksburg, confidently expect- 
ing the attack there. But, by adroitly turning our troops 
to the right, General Grant had avoided a battle with 
this strong force, had dispersed an important division of 
the enemy, and had opened an almost unobstructed path 
to Jackson. 

All the difficulties which our troops encountered and 
triumphantly surmounted cannot well be imagined. 
General McClernand reports that his corps subsisted for 
thirteen days on six days' rations, and such scanty sup- 
plies as the country could afford. They were wholly 



1:26 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

without tents, regular trains, and almost without cooking 
utensils. Yet not a murmur was heard from the lips of 
his troops. They seized all the flour-mills on the way, 
grinding the corn found in the storehouses, and using 
the ambulances for ammunition-wagons. 

Jackson was strongly fortified. It was an exceedingly 
important position. The rebels were now fully aware of 
its peril, and began to rush for its protection. General 
Johnston hastened there the day after the battle of Ray- 
mond, and took the command with an estimated force 
of eleven thousand men. As many more were near 
by, marching upon the double-quick to re-enforce him. 
Johnston, in his alarm, telegraphed Pemberton, who was 
at Edwards's Station, to fall with his whole force upon the 
rear of Grant. But Grant was advancing so rapidly, and 
was so deceiving the foe by the mysterious movements 
of his army divisions, that the rebel leaders were bewil- 
dered, and knew not upon what point to concentrate 
their forces, either for attack or for defence. 

Generals McPherson and Sherman were at Raymond, 
marching along the southern road to Jackson. General 
McClernand was threatening Edwards's Station, his pick- 
ets being within two miles of the rebel troops, who 
were massed there in numbers sufficient to overwhelm 
him, had they but known his weakness. Very skilfully 
McClernand deluded the foe into the belief that he was 
about to make an attack, even when he was withdrawing 
his troops to join the Union force at Raymond. Intense 
activity now prevailed. General Grant ordered all the 
details of the movement. All the divisions were concen- 
trating in rapid march upon Jackson. Sherman and 
McPherson met before the city, by different roads, at the 
same hour of the 14th. 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBUEG. 127 

The rebel outposts were driven in, and the rebel lines 
were encountered, strongly intrenched in battle array a 
short distance outside of the city. The conflict imme- 
diately commenced with artillery. As the hostile bat- 
teries were thus exchanging shots, General Grant care- 
fully examined the ground, and posted his troops for the 
decisive attack. We will not attempt to describe the 
tactics of the battle. For an hour it was delayed by a 
shower, in which the windows of heaven seemed to be 
opened, and both armies were drenched by the flood. 
No man could open his cartridge-box, lest it should be 
instantly filled with water. 

As the rain abated, the battle commenced, with the 
incessant rattle of musketry and the roar of artillery. 
Both parties fought with fierceness, with desperation, — 
the one to destroy our government, the other to maintain 
it ; the one to banish free institutions from the earth, the 
other to defend the sacred rights of man. There were 
charges and counter-charges, the rush of onset, the con- 
fusion of retreat, shouts of victory, and cries of agony, 
and groans of death. There were many boys in the 
rebel ranks, — boys who scarcely knew for what reason 
they had been dragged from the sides of their mothers, 
and forced into this cruel war. The pitiless missiles of 
destruction, undiscriminating, tore them limb from limb. 
There were many boys in the Union ranks, — boys who 
in the free and intelligent North had been instructed 
in the principles of liberty. They fully comprehended 
their mission. The prayers of their mothers accompanied 
them. Cheerfully they perilled life and limb for their 
country and humanity. 

And here these boys stood, firing bullets into each 
other's bosoms, sometimes even grappling in the deadly 



128 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

struggle, and their blood mingling in death. Alas foi 
man ! Even the victories over which he rejoices send 
mourning and despair to thousands of homes. After a 
conflict of three hours, the enemy fled, having lost about 
nine hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. General 
Crocker led the final charge, — General Crocker, whom 
Grant classed with Sherman and Sheridan, as one of the 
best division commanders he had ever known. 

The rebels were intrenched upon the crest of an emi- 
nence over which the road passed, their guns command- 
ing the plain below. The Union troops advanced, in the 
final and decisive charge, across this plain and up the 
hill with as measured tread as if on dress-parade, while 
the rebel fire was piercing their ranks. Our troops re- 
turned no answering fire until within thirty yards of the 
foe. Then a well-aimed, deadly volley was poured into 
the rebel lines ; and with fixed bayonets, and making the 
welkin ring with their cheers, the troops rushed forward 
in the impetuous onset. The opposing troops wavered, 
broke, fled ; and the path was open to Jackson. General 
Grant, with his staff, was the first to enter the enemy's 
works. His son, a lad of thirteen years, accompanied 
him upon this, campaign. As they approached the town, 
the boy galloped ahead, and was the first to enter the 
capital of Mississippi. 

General Grant allowed himself not a moment to repose 
upon his laurels. Indeed the rebels were all around him, 
and the utmost activity and vigilance were requisite to 
secure himself from disaster. The troops marched into 
the streets, and the national banner was proudly unfurled 
from the State House. The intrenchments and rifle-pits 
outside of the city were occupied by the Union troops. 
General Grant took possession of the house which General 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBURG. 129 

Johnston bad occupied the night before. The victorious 
army was immediately employed in destroying the rail- 
roads in every direction from the city, for a distance of 
twenty miles. Bridges, factories, and arsenals were blown 
up and burned. Every thing which could be of military 
service to the rebels was destroyed. 

General Johnston had retreated north by the Canton 
Road, and had intrenched himself about fifteen miles from 
the city, where he anxiously awaited the co-operation of 
re-enforcements. Pemberton on the west at Edwards's 
Station, and Johnston on the north, were now operating 
for a junction. It was a matter of the utmost moment 
to prevent this concentration. General Grant, with in- 
ferior numbers, contrived to be superior on every field of 
battle. His troops had acquired such perfect confidence 
in him, as he led them so invariably to victory, that they 
obeyed his orders with alacrity, regardless of sleepless- 
ness, hunger, and fatigue. His subordinate officers were 
also very able men, who performed the tasks allotted to 
them with the utmost promptitude. 

Immediately upon entering Jackson, Generals McPher- 
son and McClernand were ordered to wheel around their 
columns, and to march rapidly west towards Edwards's 
Station, to attack Pemberton before he could be re-enforced 
by Johnston. Pemberton, informed of their approach, 
had selected his field of battle with skill, which he had 
acquired at West Point, at the expense of the government 
he was now seeking to destroy. There was a long ridge 
of land with quite a precipitous front, called Champion 
Hill, over which the road passed which the Union troops 
must necessarily traverse. In front of this ridge, there 
was an open plain ; and the road which led over that plain 
from east to west, as it reached the hill, turned sudden- 

9 



130 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ly south, and diagonally ascended the ridge. Here Pem- 
berton stationed and intrenched his troops, — twenty-five 
thousand in number. General Grant was informed of 
his movements, and collected all the force at his command 
to meet the crisis. He immediately hastened in person 
to the front, and sent the following despatch to Sher- 
man : — 

" Start one of your divisions on the road at once, with 
their ammunition-wagons, and direct the general com- 
manding the division to move with all possible speed until 
he comes up with our rear beyond Bolton. It is impor- 
tant that the greatest celerity should be shown in carrying 
out this movement, as I have evidence that the entire 
force of the enemy was at Edwards's Depot at 7, p.m., 
last night, and was still advancing. The fight may, 
therefore, be brought on at any moment." 

At the same time he sent a despatch to Blair, who was 
some miles to the south, but also on a road that led directly 
to Edwards's Station. 

" The enemy," said he, " have moved out to Edwards's 
Station, and are still pushing on to attack us with all 
their force. Push your troops on in that direction as 
rapidly as possible. If you are already on the Bolton 
Road, continue so ; but, if you still have a choice of roads, 
take the one leading to Edwards's Depot. Pass your 
troops to the front of your train, except a rear guard, 
and keep the ammunition wagons in front of all others." 

As General Grant rode to the front, it was rather an 
appalling spectacle which met his eye. Champion Hill 
rose before him about seventy feet above the plain. Its 
summit was bald, affording an admirable position for the 
artillery of the foe. The sides of the hill were covered 
with an impenetrable growth of forest and of underbrush, 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBURG. 131 

through which it was almost impossible to penetrate. 
Upon this eminence stood twenty-five thousand deter- 
mined men, with an ample array of cannon, and com- 
manded by an able general. 

The battle commenced with musketry and artillery, as 
soon as our troops came within range of the enemy's 
guns. Round shot and shell from their batteries pierced 
our ranks, while incessant volleys of musketry were flash- 
ing from the forest, where no foe could be seen, and into 
which it seemed useless to direct our fire. Many of our 
soldiers were veterans who had been in many battles, and 
who had witnessed the deadly strife at Donelson, at Shi- 
loh, and at Pittsburg Landing. They testified that they 
had never, upon any field, seen the fusilade from this 
hillside surpassed. 

The centre of our line was under command of General 
Hovey. For a time he held his men firm under the 
tremendous fire of the foe. At length they were com- 
pelled gradually to retire, though in perfect order. The 
battle was long, and for a time seemed doubtful. Gen- 
eral Quimby was sent to the support of the centre. Other 
dispositions were made to attack the foe in flank, and to 
threaten their rear. General Logan succeeded in gaining 
a very important position on their left. Order was then 
given for a simultaneous charge, while the massed artillery 
concentrated its fire upon the heart of the foe. There 
was an hour of terrific struggle which covered the hill- 
sides with the mangled remains of the dying and the dead, 
when the enemy — vanquished, bewildered, despairing 
— turned, and fled over the brow of the hill. 

It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon. This 
was the hardest fought battle of the campaign thus far. 
The victory cost us over two thousand four hundred men 



132 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

in killed, wounded, and missing. As our men had been 
necessarily massed for the charge in ascending the hill, 
the fire of the enemy's infantry was for a short time 
deadly in the extreme. The enemy lost, however, in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners, nearly six thousand men, 
and thirty pieces of cannon. The heroes slept on the 
field they had won so dearly. The mangled bodies of 
men and horses, dismounted cannon, and all the wrecks 
of the battle, were scattered around in wild confusion. 
The dead slept peaceful and silent, side by side, enemies 
no more. Did their spirits ascend together to the judg- 
ment to answer for the passions and the struggles of the 
hour ? Four thousand must have appeared suddenly to- 
gether before that tribunal, slain by each other's hands. 
The soldiers called the spot " The Hill of Death." 

At eight o'clock that evening, a portion of the army 
had advanced, and taken possession of the encampment at 
Edwards's Station, through which the foe had precipitate- 
ly retreated. General McClernand was despatched in 
hot pursuit of the routed army. General Grant and 
his staff accompanied the advance until late in the night. 
He then threw himself down upon the porch of a house, 
which had been used as a rebel field-hospital, and took a 
few hours of repose, while the groans of the wounded 
and the dying blended with his dreams. It is a curious 
fact, that, the very night of this great victory, General 
Grant received a despatch from General Halleck ordering 
him to abandon the campaign upon which he had en- 
tered, and to go back to co-operate with General Banks 
for the capture of Port Hudson. 

But General Grant could now very safely disregard 
these orders. The President, General Halleck, Congress, 
and the whole nation were in a few days electrified with 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VTCKSBURG. 133 

the tidings of his marvellous achievements, and with 
undivided voice they all bade him God speed. Early the 
next morning, — the 17th, — General McCleniand," who 
had energetically resumed the pursuit at half-past three 
o'clock, overtook the foe at Big Black River. They had 
crossed the stream, and taken possession of the bluffs 
which lined the western shore. The eastern shore was 
low and flat, and completely commanded by the artillery 
on the bluffs. Both the railroad and the turnpike crossed 
the river here upon bridges, side by side. There was also 
a bayou which, in the form of a semi-circle, composed a 
natural ditch or moat twenty feet wide and about three 
feet deep, emerging from the river above the bridges, 
and, after a circuit of about a mile, entering it again 
below. 

Abetter position for defence, ^art could scarcely have 
created. Pemberton availed himself of it, determined to 
maintain himself there at all hazards till re-enforcements 
should arrive. Trees and bushes fringed the banks of 
the bayou; and many of these had been felled, forminir 
an abatis to obstruct the advance. The bayou was de- 
fended by twenty pieces of artillery and four thousand 
men. The remaining rebel force — four thousand strong 
— had taken position upon the bluffs, on the western 
banks of the river. To carry this position it was neces- 
sary for the Union troops first to pass over the open 
plain in face of the enemy, then to bridge or wade the 
bayou while exposed to the fire of the batteries and of 
four thousand infantry, sweeping their ranks with grape- 
shot and bullets. Having accomplished this feat, and 
having driven the enemy from the line of the bayou 
across the river by the bridges which would be destroyed 
behind them, they were then to force the passage of the 



134 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

river, and charge the whole concentrated foe upon the 
bluffs, and carry the position by storm. To one sitting 
by the fireside it seems impossible that such an achieve- 
ment could have been accomplished. But it was accom- 
plished heroically and speedily. 

General McClernand brought up his artillery, and 
opened a well-aimed and deadly fire, which staggered the 
foe. Under cover of this fire General Lawler succeeded 
in advancing unobserved, concealed by the bushes and 
the nature of the ground, with eleven hundred men, to 
a position on the left of the rebel works. The soldiers 
threw off their blankets and their knapsacks, and rushed 
through the waters of the bayou. A murderous fire of 
shot and shell was instantly turned upon them, which 
crimsoned the stagnant pool with their blood. But still 
the impetuous troops pressed on, crossed the bayou, and 
rushed upon the rebels in flank and rear. The enemy, 
bewildered by so unlooked-for an assault, in great numbers 
threw down their arms and surrendered. In a few mo- 
ments seventeen hundred and fifty-one prisoners, with 
eighteen pieces of cannon and a large supply of small 
arms and ammunition, fell into the hands of the victors. 
This brilliant feat, accomplished by McClernand's corps, 
was effected at a loss of twenty-nine killed and two hun- 
dred and forty-two wounded. General Osterhaus was 
unfortunately wounded at the commencement of the 
fight. The panic-stricken rebels, abandoning their guns 
almost without a struggle, fled across the bridges, and set 
them on fire even before half of the fugitives had escaped. 
Thousands of men were now running up and down the 
banks in despair. Some with sinewy arms succeeded in 
swimming across. Many others in the unavailing at- 
tempt were drowned. Others still, threw down their arms 
and surrendered. 



ADVANCE TOWARDS VICKSBURG. 135 

General Grant was now in possession of the entire 
eastern bank of the river. It is very evident that the 
enemy was bewildered, and to a very considerable degree 
terrified, by this resistless march and these uninterrupt- 
ed victories of General Grant. Pemberton's army was 
quite demoralized. Stragglers in large numbers were 
abandoning it. He feared that Grant might cross the 
river above or below, and by a flank movement interpose 
between him and Vicksburg. Thus both the garrison 
and his own army would be at the mercy of the victor. 
From this point of the Black River it was scarcely fifteen 
miles to Vicksburg Bluffs. General Pemberton accord- 
ingly abandoned his position, and retreated to take refuge 
behind the intrenchments of Vicksburg. He thought 
that he should enjoy a few hours' respite from pursuit, 
since it would require, he supposed, twelve hours at least 
for General Grant to bridge anew the deep and rapid 
stream. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 

Crossing the Big Black. — Singular Interview between Grant and Sher- 
man. — The Investment of Vicksburg. — Magnitude of the Achieve- 
ment. — Progress of the Siege. — Johnston's unavailing Endeavors. — 
Explosion of the Mine. — Distress of the Besieged. — The Capitula- 
tion. — Rebel " Chivalry." — Letter from President Lincoln. 




HE Big Black River was now to be bridged 
for the passage of an army. Speedily Gen- 
eral Grant's engineers accomplished the 
work. The battle of Black-River Bridge, 
as it was called, was terminated about ten 
o'clock on the 17th. Before eight o'clock of the next 
morning, thousands of the Union troops were on the 
western banks, ready for battle or for the march. 
General Grant, while the bridges were being constructed, 
sent a cavalry reconnoissance back to ascertain the move- 
ments of Johnston. He sent a despatch to Sherman, 
saying, — 

" Secure a commanding position on the west bank of 
Black River as soon as you can. If the information you 
gain, after crossing, warrants you in believing you can go 
immediately into the city, do so. If there is any doubt 
in this matter, throw out troops to the left, after advan- 
cing on a line with the railroad bridge, to open your 
communication with the troops here. We will then 

136 



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VtCKSBXTRG 



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1 a. 






CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 137 

move in threo columns, — if roads can be found to move 
on, — and either have Vicksburg or Haines's Bluff to- 
morrow night. The enemy have been so terribly beaten 
yesterday and to-day that I cannot believe that a stand 
will be made, unless the troops are relying on Johnston's 
arriving with large re-enforcements ; nor that Johnston 
would attempt to re-enforce with any thing at his com- 
mand, if he was aware at all of the present condition of 
things." 

By half-past nine o'clock of the 18th, the energetic 
General Sherman was within three miles and a half of 
Vicksburg, where the head of his column entered the 
Benton Road. He now commanded the rear of both the 
rebel garrisons, at Vicksburg and at Haines's Bluff. His 
soldiers halted for the remainder of the command to come 
up. Here General Grant joined Sherman. Together 
these two distinguished men rode to the summit of one 
of the Walnut Hills, from which they could look down 
upon the Yazoo River, and upon those bluffs on its 
southern banks in front of which, but a few months 
before, General Sherman had met a bloody repulse. 

Silently, for a few moments, they gazed upon the scene 
around them. At last Sherman turned abruptly, and 
said to General Grant, — 

" Until this moment I never thought your expedition 
a success. I never could see the end clearly until now. 
But this is a campaign. This is a success, if we never 
take the town." 

General Grant, the most taciturn of men, as usual 
said nothing. He probably felt as certain then of the 
capture of Vicksburg as he did on the morning when 
General Pemberton surrendered to him his sword. Be- 
fore night General Sherman had placed his troops within 



138 LIFE OF GENEKAL GBANT. 

nearly musket range of the intrenchments of Yieksburg. 
Early the next morning he seized several of the out- 
works of the foe, and captured a number of prisoners. 

General McClernand pressed forward, and invested the 
doomed city on its southern side. General McPherson 
followed with his corps, and filled up the gap in the cen- 
tre. Thus, by Tuesday morning of the 19th, the city 
w T as invested both by river and by land. The Union lines 
extended in a long circuit of nearly twenty miles, from 
Haines's Bluff, on the Yazoo above the city, to Warren- 
ton on the Mississippi below. The rebel army was shut 
up in its fortress, having no communication with the 
outer world, and with scarcely a possibility of escape. 

Precipitately the foe had abandoned Haines's Bluff, 
and a small Union force was sent to occupy it: Indeed, 
the navy had taken possession of the port before the 
arrival of the troops. They found fourteen guns, which 
the foe had left behind in his sudden flight. This was 
made the base of our supplies. Every thing we needed 
could be brought safely down the river from the north. 
Good roads were built, and the beleaguering army was 
abundantly supplied with every thing it could need for its 
efficiency and its comfort. The fall of Yieksburg was 
now certain. The only question was, how many days it 
would be able to hold out. 

But three weeks had passed since General Grant com- 
menced this campaign. He had marched in that time 
over two hundred miles, had fought five battles, in which 
over twelve thousand rebels had been either killed, 
wounded, or taken prisoners. He had seized the capital 
of the State of Mississippi, and destroyed the railroads 
leading to it for a distance of more than thirty miles 
around. He had started upon this enterprise without 



CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 139 

baggage wagons, and with an average of but two days' 
rations in the soldiers' haversacks. His losses in all — 
killed, wounded, and missing — were but four thousand 
three hundred and thirty-five. As the crowning result 
of all this, he had invested the city and garrison of 
Vicksburg so that their fall was inevitable. The fall of 
Vicksburg insured the evacuation of Tort Hudson. 
Thus the Mississippi would be open to the nation from 
Cairo to its mouths. Surely such a campaign will favora- 
bly compare with the most brilliant recorded in ancient 
or modern story. 

The whole line of forts, bastions, and ramparts on the 
east of Vicksburg, which the rebels had reared to pro- 
tect themselves from attack on the land side, was about 
eight miles in length. The detached works were con- 
nected by a continuous line of rifle-pits. Trees had been 
felled in front of the whole line, presenting an entangle- 
ment of branches through which it was almost impossible 
to penetrate. Vicksburg was thus a vast intrenched 
camp. Behind these works, which were armed by nearly 
two hundred cannon so placed as to sweep every possible 
avenue of approach, General Pemberton now stood with 
nearly forty thousand men. 

He knew that it was impossible for General Grant to 
take the works by storm. As General Grant had ven- 
tured into the very heart of the rebel States, General 
Pemberton was confident that he would be able to defend 
the works until General Johnston could rally an over- 
whelming army, and fall upon the rear of the Union 
troops and crush them. Thus General Grant was under 
the necessity of looking vigilantly every day in two 
directions, — upon General Johnston behind him, and 
upon the desperate garrison at bay before him. He was 



140 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

not, however, at that time aware of the real strength of 
the garrison. He supposed it to be much less than it 
actually was. 

The energy of General Grant, and the ardor of his 
men, are manifest from the fact, that, at half-past ten 
o'clock of the first day of the investment, a very vigorous 
though unavailing attempt was made to carry the place 
by assault. Again, two days after, another still more 
heroic and determined effort was made. All the ener- 
gies of the army were upon this occasion called into 
requisition. The soldiers were so sure that they could 
carry the works that they would not have willingly 
toiled in the trenches until they had made the trial. No 
one in the Union army was then aware that the garrison 
in Vicksburgwas so strong in numbers. It subsequently 
appeared that General Pemberton had absolutely more 
men behind these intrenchments — which were about as 
strong as nature and art could rear — than General 
Grant could bring to the assault. Both of these charges 
were repelled, with heavy loss to the Union arms. 

It was now evident that the strong works of Vicksburg 
could only be carried by siege. A formidable army was 
in the meantime gathering in General Grant's rear. He 
ordered every available man in his district, who could pos- 
sibly be spared, to be sent to his aid. He wrote to Gen- 
eral Prentiss, " To watch the enemy, and to prevent him 
from collecting a force outside near enough to attack my 
rear. I require a large cavalry force. Contract every 
thing on the line of the route from Memphis to Corinth, 
and keep your cavalry well out south there. By this 
means you ought to be able to send here quite a large 
force." 

Johnston was collecting his shattered bands at Canton, 



CAPTURE OF V1CKSBU11G. 141 

a little north of Jackson, and was calling loudly upon 
the Confederacy to send him re-enforcements. To hold 
him in check, it was necessary for General Grant, while 
conducting the siege, to defend the line of the Big Black 
River, that Johnston might not be able to cross. Gen- 
eral Halleck co-operated with all his great energies in 
sending forward re-enforcements, to enable General 
Grant to meet his varied and complicated wants. His 
confidence in General Grant was now fully established, 
and he rendered him the most constant and efficient aid. 
By the 23d of May, General Grant had forty thousand 
men at his command. The full energies of every man 
were every day called into requisition. Many thousands 
were busy with the pickaxe and the spade. Others were at 
work at the guns, throwing an incessant storm of shot and 
shells inside of the intrenchments. The fleet co-operated 
in this work, harassing the foe from the river's side with 
their terrible bombs. Sharpshooters often drove the 
rebels from their guns, striking with the bullet every 
head or hand which appeared above the parapets. Camps 
were established in the woods and ravines, and the most 
vigorous measures were adopted to promote the health 
and comfort of the troops. Roads were opened, and 
streams and gullies were bridged, to aid in the rapid 
transmission of all supplies. The most vigorous military 
police was established, that there should be no disorder. 
Of necessity an army is an absolute monarchy. There 
is nothing which can test a man's ability more severely 
than to be the monarch of such an organization, in the 
midst of all the turmoil and peril and vast responsibili- 
ties of war. Mere bravery, mere fighting qualities in the 
commander, under such circumstances, amount to but 
little. The most varied and highest qualities with which 



142 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the human mind can be endowed are then called into 
requisition. General Grant displayed wide-reaching in- 
telligence and administrative ability of the highest order. 

We have not space to describe the operations of the 
siege. From its commencement to its close, it was 
almost one continued roar of battle, through which, — 
and constantly exposed to the fire of the foe, — works of 
the siege were incessantly pushed forward. Many negroes 
came within the lines. General Grant employed all who 
came, paying them fair wages ; and they rendered very 
efficient aid. The amount of labor performed cannot be 
described, and can scarcely be imagined. Opposite the 
works of Vicksburg, corresponding works of equal mag- 
nitude rose rapidly. Twelve miles of trenches were dug. 
Eighty-nine batteries were reared. By the last of June, 
there were two hundred and twenty guns in position. 

The enemy endeavored to blow us up with mines, to 
drive us back by sorties, to impede our works by shot 
and shells. There were some very severe conflicts be- 
tween the rebel batteries and the gunboats. The defence 
was conducted with as much determination as the assault 
was pressed. On the 25th of May, General Grant had 
written to General Banks, — 

" I feel that my force is abundantly strong to hold the 
enemy where he is, or to whip him if he should come 
out. The place is so strongly fortified, however, that it 
cannot be taken without either a great sacrifice of life or 
by a regular siege. I have determined to adopt the lat- 
ter course, and save my men. The great danger now to 
be apprehended is, that the enemy may collect a force 
outside, and attempt to rescue the garrison." 

On the 81st, he again wrote, " It is now certain that 
Johnston lias already collected a force from twenty thou- 



CAPTUEE OF VICKSBUKG. 14:) 

sand to twenty-five thousand strong, at Jackson and Can- 
ton, and is using every effort to increase it to forty thou- 
sand. With this, he will undoubtedly attack Haines's 
Bluff, and compel me to abandon the investment of the 
city, if not re-enforced before he can get here." 

One of the important events of the siege, which may 
be mentioned simply as characteristic of the nature of 
the conflict, was the explosion of a mine on the 25th of 
June. A gallery was dug under an important part of the 
enemy's works. In this mine, two thousand two hundred 
pounds of powder were placed. Its explosion was to be 
the signal for a simultaneous attack from every gun on 
the land and in the fleet. Through the gorge cut by the 
explosion, several thousand men were to rush to gain an 
advance position. 

It was three o'clock in the afternoon of a pleasant 
summer's day. The troops were withdrawn to a safe 
distance. Perfect silence reigned. The match was ap- 
plied to the fire. A little white puff of smoke rose along 
the trenches through which the fuse was laid ; and the 
fire crept rapidly — and yet it seemed very slow — along 
under the ground towards the buried magazine. The 
thousands looking on held their breath in suspense. 
Then came the phenomenon of the upheaving of a 
mountain, a flash, a thunder-peal as if the archangel's 
trump were sounded ; and the air was filled with the 
volcanic eruption of earth and rocks and timber and 
guns, and the blackened, mangled forms of men hurled 
a distance of from eighty to a hundred feet into the air ; 
and all this enveloped in a cloud of smoke and dust 
which moved solemnly and sublimely away before the 
gentle breeze. 

Instantly, over a line twelve miles in length, battle's 



1-14 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

fiercest tempest burst forth. An eye-witness says, " The 
scene at this time was one of the utmost sublimity. 
The roar of artillery, rattle of small arms, the cheers of 
the men, flashes of light, wreaths of pale blue smoke 
over different parts of the field, the bursting of shells, 
the fierce whistle of solid shot, the deep boom of the 
mortars, the broadsides of the ships of war, and, added 
to all this, the vigorous replies of the enemy, set up a din 
which beggars all description." 

The troops rushed in at the gorge, which was large 
enough to hold two regiments. The rebel troops with 
equal desperation rushed forward to meet them ; and 
thus the struggle continued, not only until the sun went 
down, not only until the twilight disappeared, but far 
into the hours of the night. Such were the scenes 
through which the siege of Vicksburg was conducted. 

At every point the rebels found that General Grant had 
anticipated them, and that their plans were thwarted. 
Ere Ioug: it became evident to General Pemberton that 
he would be compelled to surrender, unless he could 
contrive some way to escape. His provisions were nearly 
exhausted. Seven days more would consume them. He 
conceived the design of building a large number of flat- 
boats, and of escaping with his army by night across the 
Mississippi. The materials for his boats were to be ob- 
tained by tearing down the houses of Vicksburg. Gen- 
* eral Grant was informed of this by a deserter. The gun- 
boat fleet redoubled its diligence, and the plan wus 
frustrated. 

The position of the Union troops was still deemed 
quite perilous. General Grant was between two power- 
ful armies. While besieging one, he was in constant 
danger of assault from the other. If both should com- 



CAPTUKE OF VICKSBUBG. 14,) 

bine in a simultaneous attack, it seemed not improbable 
that the garrison at Vicksburg might escape. The rebels 
no longer deemed it possible to save Vicksburg. The 
last of May, General Johnston wrote to General Pem- 
berton, — 

" I am too weak to save Vicksburg ; can do no more 
than attempt to save you and your garrison. It will be 
impossible to extricate you, unless you co-operate." 

Famine was now consuming the garrison. The troops 
were living upon half-rations. The inhabitants of the 
city were burrowing in holes in the hillsides, to escape the 
bombardment. Flour was a thousand dollars a barrel in 
Confederate currency, molasses twelve dollars a gallon, 
beef two and a half dollars a pound. There was 
scarcely a house in the city which had not been struck 
by shot or shells, and many had been entirely demolished. 
A number of women and children had been killed! 
Shells were continually exploding in the streets. Thou- 
sands were in the hospitals, in extreme suffering, deprived 
of almost every comfort. Those in the trenches were in 
almost an equally pitiable condition. 

And all this these guilty men had brought upon them- 
selves by rebellion, — by rebellion against the best govern- 
ment in the world. And the only excuse which even 
they assigned for this crime was that the National Gov- 
ernment would not prove recreant to every principle of 
true democracy, and aid them to enslave their brother 
man. 

It is said that General Grant was one day riding round 
his lines, when he stopped for water at the house of a 
rebel woman. She asked him tauntingly if he expected 
ever to get into Vicksburg. He replied, — 

" Certainly. I cannot tell exactly when I shall take 



146 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the town ; but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me 
thirty years." 

In the admirable " Military History of General Grant," 
by General Adam Badeau, we have the following extracts 
from despatches sent by General Grant to his subordinate 
officers, which will give the reader some idea of the 
multiplicity of cares which must have engrossed his 
mind : — 

To Parke : " I want the work of intrenching your 
position pushed with all despatch. Be ready to receive 
an attack, if one should be made ; and to leave the troops 
free to move out, should the enemy remain where he 
is." 

To Ord : " Get batteries as well advanced as possible, 
during the day and night." 

To Parke, directing him to join Sherman : " An at- 
tack is contemplated, evidently by way of Bear Creek, 
and that within two days. Move out four brigades of 
your command, to support your cavalry ; and obstruct 
their advance, as near Black River as possible, until all 
the forces to spare can be brought against them. Travel 
with as little baggage as possible, and use your teams as 
an ordnance and supply train to get out all you may 
want from the river." 

To Dennis : " An attack upon you is not at all impos- 
sible. You will therefore exercise unusual vigilance in 
your preparations to receive an attack. Keep your cav- 
alry out as far as possible, to report any movement of the 
enemy ; and confer with Admiral Porter, that there may 
be unanimity in action." 

To Parke : " Certainly use the negroes, and every 
thing within your command, to the best advantage." 

To Herron : " Be ready to move with your division at 



CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 147 

the shortest notice, with two days' cooked rations in their 
haversacks." 

To McPherson : " There is indication that the enemy 
will attack within forty-eight hours. Notify McArtlmr 
to be ready to move at a moment's notice on Sherman's 
order. The greatest vigilance will be required on the 
line, as the Vicksburg garrison may take the same occa- 
sion for an attack also." 

Such were the daily toils and cares of General Grant, 
allowing him but little time for food or sleep. By the 
1st of July, his works, at ten different points, were within 
a few hundred feet of the rebel defences. The time for 
final assault had now come. It was understood in both 
armies that it would take place on the 4th of July. 
General Pemberton was well aware that he could not 
repel the charge, and that he could not cut his way 
through the lines now drawn so closely around him. 
His humanity recoiled from the awful carnage which 
must necessarily result from the capture of the place by 
storm. He called a council of war, and it was agreed to 
capitulate. 

On the morning of the 3d, Pemberton sent a note 
under a flag of truce to General Graiit, proposing an 
armistice, that terms of capitulation might be arranged, 
stating that it was his wish to save further effusion of 
blood. General Grant replied, — 

" Your note of this date is just received, proposing an 
armistice for several hours for the -purpose of arranging 
terms of capitulation through commissioners to be ap- 
pointed. The useless effusion of blood you propose stop- 
ping by this course can be ended at any time you may 
choose, by the unconditional surrender of the city and 
garrison. Men who have shown so much endurance 



1-18 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

and courage as those now in Vicksburg will always 
challenge the respect of an adversary, and, I can assure 
you, will be treated with all the respect due to prisoners 
of war. I do not favor the proposition of appointing 
commissioners to arrange the terms of capitulation, 
because I have no other terms than those indicated 
above." 

General Bowen, who brought the note from Pember- 
ton, urged that General Grant should have a personal 
interview with General Pemberton. To this request 
General Grant returned a verbal answer, that, if General 
Pemberton desired it, he would meet him between the 
lines, in General McPherson's front, at three o'clock that 
afternoon. 

At the appointed time and place, the two generals met, 
each accompanied by several officers of his staff. The 
conference was held on a gentle eminence, beneath an oak- 
tree, not two hundred feet from the rebel lines. The 
works on both sides were crowded with .soldiers enjoying 
the temporary lull of the storm of war, gazing with 
intensest interest, but with very different emotions, upon 
the simple yet sublime spectacle. 

The two generals, though both .Northern men, had 
never met before. Courteously they shook hands. Pem- 
berton inquired what terms of capitulation would be 
allowed him. General Grant replied, " Those which 
have been expressed in my letter of this morning." The 
rebel general was irritated, and evidently regarded the 
terms " ungenerous and unchivalrous ; " for he turned 
upon his heel, saying, " If this is all, the conference 
may terminate, and hostilities be resumed immediately." 
" Very well," was General Grant's reply; and he turned 
away as if about to retire to his lines- 



CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 149 

General Bowen, of Pemberton's staff, ventured to 
interpose, and entered into conversation with some of the 
officers of General Grant's staff; while the two chieftains, 
stepping a little aside, conversed for a moment together 
in low tones which were not overheard. General Bowen 
then proposed that the rebel garrison should be permitted 
to march out of Vicksburg with the honors of war, car- 
rying with them their muskets and their field guns. 
General Grant smiled at this proposition, and declared it 
to be utterly inadmissible. Finally, it was agreed that 
both parties should return to their lines ; that the truce 
should continue ; and that General Grant, having con- 
ferred with his officers, should transmit in writing the 
terms he would accept. These terms General Pemberton 
was to submit to his officers, and return a prompt reply. 

General Grant withdrew to his headquarters, and held 
— it is said for the first time in his life — a council of war. 
They all, with one exception (General Steele), suggested 
terms which Grant was unwilling to propose. He firmly 
adhered to his original proposition of " unconditional 
surrender," and sent the following letter to General 
Pemberton : — 

"In conformity with agreement of this afternoon, I 
will submit the following proposition for the surrender of 
the city of Vicksburg, public stores, &c. On your 
accepting the terms proposed, I will march in one divis- 
ion, as a guard, to take possession, at eight o'clock, a.m., 
to-morrow. As soon as rolls can be made out, and paroles 
signed by officers and men, you will be allowed to march 
out of our lines, — the officers with their side-arms and 
clothing; and the field, staff, and cavalry officers," one 
horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their 
clothing, but no other property. If these conditions are 



150 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary 
can be taken from the stores you now have, and also all 
the necessary cooking utensils for preparing them. 
Thirty wagons also, counting two horse or mule teams 
as one, will bo allowed to transport such articles as can- 
not be carried along. The same conditions will be 
allowed to all sick and wounded officers and soldiers, as 
fast as they become able to travel. The paroles for these 
latter must be signed, however, while officers are present 
authorized to sign the roll of prisoners." 

These terms were submitted that night by General 
Pemberton to a council of war, and accepted. A little 
after midnight, an answer was returned as follows : — 

" I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your 
communication of this date, proposing terms of capitula- 
tion for this garrison and port. In the main, your terms 
are accepted. But in justice both to the honor and spirit 
of my troops manifested in the defence of Vicksburg, I 
have to submit the following amendments, which, if ac- 
ceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us: — 

" At ten o'clock, a.m., tomorrow, I propose to evacuate 
the works in and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the 
city and garrison under my command, by marching out 
with my colors and arms, stacking them in front of my 
present lines; after which you will take possession. Of- 
ficers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and 
the rights and property of citizens to be respected." 

To this an immediate answer was returned by General 
Grant in these words : " I have the honor to acknowledge 
the receipt of your communication of the 3d of July. 
The amendment proposed by yon cannot be acceded to in 
full. It will be necessary to furnish every officer and 
man with a parole signed by himself, which, with the 



CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 151 

completion of the roll of prisoners, will necessarily take 
some time. 

" Again : I can make no stipulations with regard to the 
treatment of citizens and their private property. While 
I do not propose to cause them any undue annoyance or 
loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under any restraint 
by stipulations. The property which officers will be al- 
lowed to take with them will be as stated in my proposi- 
tion of last evening ; that is, officers will be allowed their 
private baggage and side-arms, and mounted officers one 
horse each. 

" If you mean by your proposition, for each brigade to 
march to the front of the lines now occupied by it, and 
stack arms, at ten o'clock, a.m., and then return to the in- 
side and there remain as prisoners until properly paroled, 
I will make no objection to it. Should no notification be 
received of your acceptance of my terms by nine o'clock, 
a.m., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and 
shall act accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, 
white flags should be displayed along your lines, to pre- 
vent such of my troops as may not have been notified from 
firing upon your men." 

General Pemberton immediately sent back the reply, " I 
have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your com- 
munication of this day, and, in reply, to say that the terms 
proposed by you are accepted." 

We have given a more full detail of these events, as they 
show so conclusively that General Grant is not merely a 
soldier, — that he as endowed with a mind of broad com- 
prehension equal to the most difficult emergencies. The 
wisdom and the firmness, combined with -the humanity 
and the modesty, displayed in these eventful hours, are 
worthy of all admiration. 



152 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

The energy and tireless activity of General Grant's 
mind has perhaps in no case been rendered more conspic- 
uous than that, so soon as he had received General Pem- 
berton's first note, he sent a despatch to Sherman, to be 
ready immediately to march to attack and disperse, or 
destroy, the army under General Johnston. 

" There is little doubt," said he, " but that the enemy 
will surrender to-night or in the morning. Make your 
calculations to attack Johnston, and destroy the road 
north of Jackson." 

Generals Steele and Ord were also directed to be in read- 
iness to march in co-operation with Sherman the very 
moment the surrender was effected. " I want," he wrote, 
" Johnston broken up as effectually as possible. You can 
make your own arrangements, and have all the troops of 
my command, except one corps." 

At ten o'clock on the 4th of July, 1863, white flags rose 
all along the rebel lines, announcing the surrender of the 
city. Thus Vicksburg was reclaimed from foul rebellion. 
Our troops, with loud cheers, marched into the streets 
and into the forts to gain which they had so long and so 
valiantly contended. The stars and stripes rising proudly 
over the fortress announced to the fleet the glad tidings 
of the surrender. Every vessel was soon in motion ; and 
but an hour or two elapsed ere seventy steamers or 
barges lined the levee, and the city suddenly emerged 
from the death of rebellion to life and activity. It is said 
that this surrender was the most important recorded in 
the annals of war. At the capitulation of Ulm, hitherto 
considered without a parallel, thirty thousand prisoners 
were surrendered and sixty pieces of cannon. Thirty- 
one thousand six hundred men surrendered at Vicksburg, 
with one hundred and seventy-two cannon. 



CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG. 153 

General Logan's division, which was in the advance, 
first entered the works. General Grant, with his staff, 
rode at the head of the troops. The rebel soldiers gazed 
upon their conqueror in silence. He rode at once to the 
headquarters of General Pemberton. There was no one 
to receive him. He dismounted, and entered the porch. 
General Pemberton sat there with his staff. These men 
then very conspicuously developed their novel ideas of 
" chivalry." Though each one wore his sword through 
the generosity of General Grant, not one rose in courteous 
greeting of the valiant and magnanimous soldier. Pem- 
berton was especially sullen and discourteous. 

The day was hot, and the trampling of the armies had 
filled the air with clouds of dust. General Grant, 
heated and thirsty, asked for a glass of water. He was 
brusquely told that he could find it inside. He groped 
his way through the passages till he found a negro who 
gave him a cup of water. Returning, he found no seat, 
and remained standing in the presence of his vanquished 
foes, who were seated, during an interview of half an 
hour. 

In the following terms, General Grant announced his 
victory to the government : " The enemy surrendered this 
morning. The only terms allowed is their parole as 
prisoners of war. This I regard as a great advantage 
to us at this moment. It saves, probably, several days in 
the capture, and leaves troops and transports ready for 
immediate service. Sherman, with a large force, moves 
immediately upon Johnston, to drive him from the 
State." 

President Lincoln immediately wrote General Grant 
the following characteristic letter, dated at the Executive 
Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1863 : — 



154 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

" My dear General, — I do not remember that you 
and I ever met personally. I write now as a grateful 
acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you 
have done the country. I wish to say further, when 
you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you 
should do what you finally did, — march the troops 
across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, 
and thus go below ; and I never had any faith, except 
a general hope that you knew better than I, that the 
Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. 
When you got better, and took Port Gibson, Great 
Gulf, and the vicinity, I thought you should go down 
the river and join General Banks ; and, when you turned 
northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mis- 
take. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment 
that you was right, and I was wrong. 

" Yours very truly, 

"A. Lincoln. " 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 

Results from the Fall of Vicksburg. — Humanity of General Sherman. — 
Peril of the Army in East Tennessee. — Disaster at Chattanooga. — 
General Grant placed in Command. — His Wonderful Energy. — Open- 
ing Communications. — The Pontoon Bridge. — Movement of Hooker 
and Howard. — The Repulse of the Rebels. 

HE fall of Vicksburg rendered it necessary 
for the rebels to evacuate Port Hudson. 
Thus every barricade of the Mississippi was 
swept away, from Cairo to the Gulf; and 
the Father of Waters rolled — to use an 
expression of President Lincoln — " unvexed to the 
sea." General Grant did not allow himself one moment 
to rejoice over his great victory. On the night of the 
4th, Generals Sherman, Ord, and Steele were on the 
move with forty thousand men, retracing their steps 
towards Jackson. " Drive Johnston," said General 
Grant, " from the Mississippi Central Railroad. Destroy 
the bridges as far north as Grenada with your cavalry, 
and do the enemy all the harm possible. I will support 
you to the last man that can be spared." 

Grenada is about one hundred miles north of Jackson. 
Such were the orders General Grant issued, and the 
operations he put in movement, on the very day in which 
he was receiving the surrender of Vicksburg. Johnston, 

155 



156 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

who was on the eastern banks of the Big Black, recoiled 
before the approach of Sherman's army, and fell back 
upon Jackson. The Union troops pressed the rebels 
closely, and drove them behind the intrenchments. 
Cavalry raids were sent in all directions, extending even 
sixty miles, destroying every thing which could be of ser- 
vice to the enemy. General Johnston, with his despond- 
ing troops, soon again fled, and by night ; crossing the 
Pearl River, and burning the bridges behind them. The 
inhabitants of Jackson were found in such a state of 
destitution and misery, that General Sherman humanely 
fed them from the army stores, and did what he could 
to relieve the wide-spread woe which this wicked rebellion 
had brought upon them. 

Leaving, with General Grant's approval, a large supply 
of food for the starving inhabitants of Jackson and Clin- 
ton, he returned with his troops to Vicksburg. It was 
not deemed, wise to pursue the fugitive foe, under the 
blaze of a July sun, through a region quite destitute of 
water. The result of the campaign of Vicksburg has 
been carefully summed up as follows : — 

The enemy was defeated in five battles outside of 
Vicksburg. Jackson, the capital of the State, was taken ; 
and Vicksburg fell, surrendering its whole garrison and 
all its munitions of Avar. The enemy lost, in killed, 
wounded, missing, and prisoners, fifty-six thousand men. 
General Grant's loss was but twelve hundred and forty- 
three killed, seven thousand and ninety-five wounded, 
and five hundred and thirty-five missing. One-half of the 
wounded were but slightly hurt, and were soon again in 
the ranks. 

These were marvellous achievements. They could not 
be the result of any fortunate series of accidents. 



PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 157 

They would have shed renown upon the most celebrated 
captains of antiquity. The war had at length developed 
our most able military mind. The country was over- 
joyed, and rang with applause. The government con- 
ferred upon the hero the rank of major-general in the 
regular army. He had struck the Rebellion blows from 
which it never recovered. 

General Grant recommended Generals Sherman and 
McPherson for promotion to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
erals in the regular army. The communication in which 
he urged this reveals his own purity and nobility of 
character. 

" The first reason for this," he wrote, " is their great 
fitness for any command that it may ever become neces- 
sary to intrust to them. Second, their great purity of 
character, and disinterestedness in any thing except the 
faithful performance of their duty, and the success of 
every one engaged in the great battle for the preservation 
of the Union. Third, they have honorably won this dis- 
tinction upon many well-fought battle-fields. The pro- 
motion of such men as Sherman and McPherson always 
adds strength to our army." 

Immediately after the president's proclamation of 
emancipation, on the 1st of January, 1863, General Grant 
fell in cordially with his plan of organizing and arming 
the negroes. He wrote to an adjutant-general the 11th 
of July, — 

" I am anxious to get as many of these negro regi- 
ments as possible, and to have them fully and completely 
equipped. I am particularly desirous of organizing a 
regiment of heavy artillerists from the negroes to gar- 
rison this place, and shall do so as soon as possible." 
Soon after, he wrote, " The negro troops are easier to 



158 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

preserve discipline among than our white troops, and, 
I doubt not, will prove equally good for garrison duty. 
All that have been tried have fought bravely." 

The rebels refused to recognize these colored troops, 
and threatened to hang all such as were taken, and also 
to hang their white officers. It was reported that some 
negro soldiers and their white captain, captured at Mil- 
liken' s Bend, had been hung. General Grant imme- 
diately wrote to General Taylor, then in command of the 
rebel troops in Louisiana, as follows : — 

" I feel no inclination to retaliate for the offence of 
irresponsible persons ; but, if it is the policy of any gen- 
eral, intrusted with the command of troops, to show no 
quarter, or to punish with death prisoners taken in battle, 
I will accept the issue. 

" It may be you propose a different line of policy to- 
wards black troops, and officers commanding them, to that 
practised towards white troops. If so, I can assure you 
that those colored troops are regularly mustered into the 
service of the United States. The government, and all 
officers under the government, are bound to give the same 
protection to these troops that they do to any other 
troops." 

This letter accomplished its purpose, in putting an end 
to those acts of barbarism which the rebels had inau- 
gurated. General Grant was now anxious to move im- 
mediately upon Mobile, from New Orleans, by Lake Pont- 
chartrain. Stunned as the rebels were by the blows 
which they had received at Yicksburg, there can be but 
little doubt that the enterprise would have been crowned 
with immediate success. General Grant was so thor- 
oughly convinced of this that he urged the plan quite 
zealously. It will probably now be admitted that it was 



PEHIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 159 

a mistake that General Grant's plans were, in this respect, 
overruled. His splendid army was, by direction of Gen- 
eral Halleck, divided and dispersed. Some were sent to 
Banks, in Louisiana ; some to Schofield, in Arkansas ; 
some to Burnside, in East Kentucky. 

General Grant was ordered to co-operate witli General 
Banks in a movement upon Texas. Accordingly, on the 
30th of August, he left Vicksburg for New Orleans. 
While in that city he was thrown from his horse at a 
review, and very severely injured. For twenty days he 
was confined to his bed, upon his back, unable to move ; 
and, for two months afterwards, he could only walk with 
crutches. 

General Rosecrans was then in East Tennessee, with 
an army of sixty thousand men. He had taken Chat- 
tanooga, but was in great peril, as the rebels in great 
force, under General Bragg, were moving upon his rear, 
threatening his long line of communication with Nash- 
ville. The rebels were pressing forward all their pos- 
sible re-enforcements to the aid of Bragg. The country 
trembled for the fate of General Rosecrans's army. 

General Halleck sent despatches, which were unfor- 
tunately delayed ten days in their transmission, directing 
General Grant to push forward with the utmost speed 
all the troops which could possibly be spared to the aid 
of General Rosecrans. Upon receiving this despatch, 
General Grant immediately sent the troops, in transports, 
up the river to Memphis ; from which point they marched 
across the . country, by the way of Corinth, Tuscumbia, 
and Decatur. General Sherman was intrusted with the 
command of this expedition. 

In the mean time the enemy concentrated all his avail- 
able force upon General Rosecrans. To leave him in 



160 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

possession of his positions there, was to surrender to the 
Union arms the entire command of East Tennessee. It 
is estimated that the combined rebel force amounted to 
eighty thousand men. General Rosecrans had but fifty- 
five thousand, and was far removed from his base of 
supplies. One of the most terrible battles of the war 
was fought. Equal desperation inspired both armies ; 
and the carnage on both sides was awful. Our troops 
were driven back from the line of the Chickamauga River 
to the city of Chattanooga, where they were besieged 
behind their intrenchments. The patriot loss, in killed, 
wounded, and missing, in this desperate battle of two 
days' continuance, was estimated at sixteen thousand. 
The rebel loss was probably from sixteen to twenty thou- 
sand. They justly claimed the dear-bought victory ; for 
the Union troops were driven from the battle-ground 
back to Chattanooga. Their lines of communication 
were entirely cut off, and they were in imminent danger 
of destruction. This disaster, occurring about the middle 
of September, caused profound anxiety throughout the 
country. 

The crisis demanded very energetic action. General 
Grant was appointed to a new command, called the 
Military Division of the Mississippi. He was invested 
with nearly dictatorial powers. All the forces west of 
the Alleghanies were subjected to his almost absolute 
control. In fact, nearly all the armies of the West were 
combined under his command, and subject to his single 
will. The responsibility thus placed upon him was im- 
mense. Never before had our government intrusted 
such vast powers to any one. But the exigency was 
great, and it called for heroic measures. General Rose- 
crans, placed in the most difficult situation, far from his 



PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 161 

base of supplies, and overwhelmed by superior numbers, 
had fought with skill and energy which entitles him to 
a high rank in the affections of his countrymen. 

On the 23d of October, General Grant arrived at Chat- 
tanooga, which is situated on the south side of a bend in 
the Tennessee River. The straggling town of but about 
four thousand inhabitants is but four miles from the 1 
Georgia line, and a hundred miles below the city of Knox- 
ville. Two and a half miles south there is a ridge, or 
range, rising two thousand four hundred feet above the 
river, called Lookout Mountain. Parallel to this, and a 
little west of it, there is another similar ridge, called 
Raccoon Mountain. Lookout River meanders through the 
valley between the two. East of Lookout there is an- 
other elevation, of the same general character, called 
Missionary Ridge, about four hundred feet high. 

The rebels commanded these three elevations, upon 
which they had planted their batteries, which were pro- 
tected by earthworks. It would seem scarcely possible 
for any human power to scale these mountains to attack 
the batteries in the face of a foe. And yet these works 
effectually encircled the town from the river above to the 
river below. 

Chattanooga was thus virtually invested. The rebel 
batteries commanded the railroad and the river. Com- 
munication could be maintained with Nashville only by 
a rough and mountainous wagon-road of over sixty miles. 
An army, now numbering forty thousand men, could by 
no possibility be long supplied by that route. The foe, 
from his commanding eminences, could look down as 
from a balloon into Chattanooga, and could throw his 
shells into portions of the Union camp. The whole 
command was on half-rations; and there were three 
11 



162 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

thousand sick and wounded in the hospitals, destitute 
of all comforts. Even the horses were allowed but one- 
half forage, and so many had died that there were not 
enough left to drag the artillery and the baggage-wagons ; 
and thus retreat was impossible. There was only am- 
munition enough left to supply the army for one short 
battle. Rebel cavalry were triumphantly scouring the 
country to cut off our trains. They had just captured 
a very important one containing ordnance stores and 
medical supplies. 

Such was the condition of the army of the Cumber- 
land when General Grant assumed the command. It 
was the last of October. The nights were cold. The 
soldiers had no overcoats, many of them not even a 
blanket. General Bragg, in command of the rebel troops, 
did not deem it necessary to make an assault, as he said 
that starvation was fighting his battle for him as efficiently 
as he could desire. 

General Grant was not in the habit of calling upon 
the government for re-enforcements. He recognized 
fully the military ability of General Halleck, and con- 
sequently only kept General Halleck clearly informed 
of his condition. He knew that General Halleck could 
judge, as well as he, whether re-enforcements were needed. 
And he had full confidence in the zeal and patriotism 
of his efficient co-operator. It was a proud stand which 
General Grant instinctively took, that he could not stoop 
to beg even for re-enforcements. Had he distrusted the 
military knowledge and judgment of General Halleck, 
his course might have been different. General Halleck 
never failed him. 

General Thomas, who had won immortal renown at 
the battle of Chickamauga, saving the army by his in- 



PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 1G3 

dividual heroism, was placed by Grant in command at 
Chattanooga until he could arrive. On the 19th of 
October he telegraphed Thomas, " Hold Chattanooga at 
all hazards. I will be there as soon as possible." The 
character of General Thomas may be read in his prompt 
reply, " I will hold the town till we starve." 

It was midnight of the 20th when General Grant 
reached Nashville, coming from Louisville by rail. His 
noiseless, quiet energy seemed to accomplish miracles. 
General Burnside, at Knoxville, was telegraphed to place 
his post in such a position that it could be defended with 
the least number of men possible. Admiral Porter was 
telegraphed at Cairo to send some gunboats up the Ten- 
nessee to co-operate with General Sherman. General 
Thomas was telegraphed to employ working parties to 
construct a road, outside of the range of the rebel bat- 
teries, from Chattanooga to Bridgeport, about thirty miles 
down to the river, to which point supplies could be brought 
by rail and by river. General Rosecrans, with mag- 
nanimity and unselfish patriotism worthy of all praise, 
cordially greeted the officer sent to supersede him, and 
did every thing in his power to assist General Grant in 
attaining a correct knowledge of the posture of affairs. 
Marshal Ney was a brave man and a splendid officer, 
though no one would claim for him equality with Napo- 
leon. We had in our army many very noble officers 
who are entitled to the undying esteem and love of their 
countrymen, though the war developed but one General 
Grant. The commissary at Nashville was telegraphed 
to send, as quick as possible, vegetables for the army. 

When General Grant, with his party, arrived at Bridge- 
port, they could advance no farther either by river or by 
rail, as both routes were swept by the rebel batteries. 



164 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

They therefore took horse, and traversed rough mountain 
roads, which were inundated by recent rains. The 
denies were enclosed by precipitous cliffs strewed with 
the wrecks of wagons, and the carcasses of horses and 
mules. It was often necessary to dismount, and to lead 
their horses over difficult and dangerous places. General 
Grant, who was still lame from the effects of his fall, 
was carried over these spots in the arms of his soldiers. 

The energies of his mind were intensely aroused, and 
he was continually sending despatches in all directions. 
He had three armies under his control, for whose safety 
and success he was responsible, — the army of Chattanooga, 
under General Thomas ; that of Knoxville, under General 
Burnside ; and the troops who were struggling along 
through Tennessee, under General Sherman. In the 
evening of a dark, cold, rainy day, Oct. 23, General Grant 
— drenched, hungry, and exhausted — reached Chat- 
tanooga. It was a gloomy night ; but the gloom of dif- 
ficulty and peril which enveloped the beleaguered host 
seemed more -dense and impenetrable than the atmospheric 
darkness. 

The general course of the Tennessee River, just at this 
point, is from east to west. The rebels held the south- 
ern shore, with the exception of the town of Chattanooga, 
where our troops were cooped up. We held the northern 
shore, though annoyed by rebel raiders. The first object 
to which General Grant directed his attention was to find 
means of conveying supplies to his army. Unless this 
could be done, and immediately, ruin was inevitable. 

He first constructed a pontoon bridge across the river, 
about nine miles below Chattanooga, at a place called 
Brown's Ferry. The enterprise was very bravely and 
adroitly accomplished, in the presence of a vigilant and 



PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 105 

victorious foe. The night of the 27th was dark and 
foggy. Sixty pontoon boats, which had been secretly 
prepared, each containing thirty men, pushed from their 
concealment, and floated down the swollen and rapid 
stream, hugging the northern bank. Not a loud word 
was spoken, no oars were used ; and thus the boats 
drifted down the stream undiscovered by the rebel pickets. 
They landed on the south side of the river ; and, after a 
slight skirmish with the rebel pickets, in which none of 
the Union troops were killed, and but four or five 
wounded, they seized some hills which commanded the 
ferry. 

At the same time, a supporting force marched down 
the northern bank of the river ; and, before the morning 
dawned, the whole force was safely upon the south shore. 
They threw up intrenchments, planted their batteries, 
and cut down the trees for an abatis, and in a short 
time were prepared to defend themselves from attack. 
By ten o'clock the bridge — and a very excellent one — 
was completed. 

While this important movement was in progress, Gen- 
eral Hooker crossed the Tennessee at Bridgeport, about 
twenty miles below, with the Eleventh Corps under 
General Howard, and the Twelfth under General Geary ; 
and, driving before him such of the enemy as he met, went 
into camp, and strongly intrenched himself in the vicinity 
of the party at Brown's Ferry. 

This movement alarmed the rebels. They compre- 
hended all its important consequences ; and General 
Longstreet was sent, it is said with his whole corps, to 
regain, if possible, the vital point. A fierce battle en- 
sued, which continued into the night, raging through the 
ravines by the light of a brilliant moon. The rebels 



166 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

were effectually repulsed. General Hooker had seven 
thousand men engaged. His loss in killed and wounded 
was four hundred and sixteen. The loss of the rebels 
was estimated at fifteen hundred. Our troops now so 
strengthened themselves as to be safe from any future 
attack. General Grant had thus the command of Look- 
out Valley. 

There were speedily two good lines of transportation 
provided from Bridgeport, — a wagon-road on the north 
side of the river of about thirty miles ; and a good road 
of but eight miles from Brown's Ferry, which point 
could be reached by the river. Our communications with 
Nashville were now safe, and supplies and re-enforce- 
ments could be forwarded without danger. Such is 
the power of genius. In five days General Grant had 
wrought this marvellous change. There was no longer 
any fear for the army at Chattanooga. A door was now 
open — and one which the rebels could not close — for 
the arrival of re-enforcements and supplies. 

This was but the first step. With unabated zeal Gen- 
eral Grant now pressed forward in endeavors to prepare 
his army to resume offensive operations. Two corps were 
speedily added to its strength. And General Hooker, 
already renowned for his splendid martial qualities, 
was threatening the rebel position on Lookout Moun- 
tain. A change, as by magic, had come over the whole 
scene. The river was alive with steamers bringing sup- 
plies ; horses and ammunition arrived, and both man 
and beast rejoiced again in full rations. The spirits of 
the army were wonderfully revived. Even the sick in 
the hospitals felt the inspiring influence, and, abandoning 
their couches, hastened back to the ranks. 



PERIL AT CHATTANOOGA. 167 

" If the rebels," said General Grant, on the 28th, 
" will give us one week more, I think all danger of los- 
ing territory now held by us will have passed away, and 
preparations may commence for active operations." 




CHAPTER XIII. 

PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 

Extent of General Grant's Command. — March of Sherman. — Chagrin of 
the Kebels. — Characteristics. — Peril of Burnside. Anxiety of Grant. 
— Grandeur of the Military Movements. — Grant's Despatches.— 
Position of General Thomas. — Arrival of Sherman. — Meeting of 
Sherman and Howard. — Assuming the Offensive. 

ENERAL GRANT was now in command of 
a military division extending a thousand 
miles, from Natchez on the Mississippi to 
Knoxville on the Tennessee, and embra- 
cing two hundred thousand soldiers. All 
this region he was to protect, and for all the varied wants 
of these troops he was to provide. General Burnside, 
one of the most gallant and devoted soldiers the Rebel- 
lion had developed, was at the city of Knoxville, a hun- 
dred miles farther up the Tennessee River. He had an 
army of about twenty-five thousand men at that impor- 
tant post. They were in need of every thing. The only 
way in which supplies could be forwarded to them was to 
send them up the Mississippi from St. Louis to the Ohio 
River, thence up the Ohio to the Cumberland, and then 
up the Cumberland to the mouth of the Big South Fork. 
Thus far Admiral Porter, with his gunboats, could convoy 
them. To that point, one hundred miles from Knoxville, 
it was necessary for General Burnside to send a guard 

168 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 1G9 

to protect the train from cavalry raids and guerilla bands. 
By this route, — which General Grant arranged, even 
in its details, — General Burnside received supplies. 

General Sherman was on a march of four hundred 
miles, with the Fifteenth Army Corps. He was travers- 
ing the whole breadth of country from Memphis, on the 
Mississippi, to Chattanooga. Though General Sherman 
was one of the most sagacious and energetic of men, it 
was necessary for General Grant, in the vast combina- 
tions which he was now forming, to direct the route, to 
decide upon the points which were to be reached on 
particular days, and to see that supplies should meet the 
troops where needed. The march was through the 
enemy's country. The rebels watched in guerilla bands 
to attack the trains. Sharpshooters infested the river 
banks and the defiles. Railroads were torn up, and 
bridges burned, to impede the march. There is some- 
thing very beautiful in the manly affection and esteem 
which seems ever to have existed between these two 
illustrious men, Grant and Sherman. When General 
Grant sent General Sherman north, after the capture of 
Vicksburg, he said to him, — 

" I hope you will be in time to aid in giving the rebels 
the worst, or best, thrashing they have had in this war. 
I have constantly had the feeling that I shall lose you 
from this command entirely. Of course, I do not object 
to seeing your sphere of usefulness enlarged ; and I think 
it should have been enlarged long ago, having an eye to 
the public good alone. But it needs no assurance from 
me, general, that, taking a more selfish view, while I 
would heartily approve such a change, I would deeply 
regret it on my own account." 

The rebels were quick to perceive that a master-mind 



170 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

was at work at Chattanooga. Their plans were all 
thwarted, and the tide of war was turning strongly 
against them. " The Richmond Enquirer " complained 
that General Bragg had allowed the Union troops to re- 
cover from the defeat at Chickamauga ; that the occupa- 
tion of Lookout Valley by General Grant enabled him to 
take the initiative, always important in military move- 
ments ; that General Grant was assuming the offensive 
in the front, and " under the very nose of General 
Bragg ; " that the Union troops had turned upon their 
pursuers, and were occupying a threatening position on 
the flanks of the victors. " The enemy were," adds " The 
Enquirer," " outfought at Chickamauga, — thanks to the 
army ! — but the present position of affairs looks as 
though we had been outgeneraled at Chattanooga." 

A short time before the arrival of General Grant, 
Jefferson Davis visited the encampment at Lookout 
Mountain. As he stood upon that eminence, and looked 
down upon our bleeding, emaciate army cooped up in 
Chattanooga, he rubbed his hands complacently, exclaim- 
ing, " I have the Yankees now in just the trap I set 
for them." 

There were many Union families in that part of Ten- 
nessee. Indeed, the majority of the inhabitants were 
favorable to the national cause. These families were ex- 
posed to every kind of outrage from the Secessionists and 
the rebel soldiers. Their houses were plundered and 
burned, their persons were maltreated, their families 
were insulted. General Grant issued a decree, that, for 
ev6ry act of violence to an unarmed Union citizen, a 
Secessionist would be arrested, and held as a hostage; 
that, for every dollar's worth of property taken from such 
citizens, or destroyed by raiders, an assessment should be 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 171 

made upon Secessionists of the neighborhood, and col- 
lected by military force. Wealthy Secessionists were 
also assessed in money and provisions for the support of 
Union refugees who had been driven from their homes 
and into our lines. Such was the vigor with which Gen- 
eral Grant grappled with the Rebellion. 

To a very eminent degree he possessed that quality, 
so conspicuous in the first Napoleon, — an almost in- 
stinctive judgment of the qualifications of men for any 
special duty. He thus surrounded himself with the very 
best subordinates the country afforded for the accom- 
plishment of his plans. Sherman and Thomas and Sheri- 
dan, — he selected each for his individual service; and 
the unanimous voice of the country has ratified the 
wisdom of his choice. But for this ability to judge of 
character, he never could have accomplished his great 
achievements. Had his subordinates failed him, all 
would have gone to ruin. 

" Grant has ever displayed greatness of soul that never 
yet went with littleness of mind. Who has said as much 
as he in praise of Sheridan, Sherman, McPherson, Thomas, 
Meade ? Remember how he lay with his gallant army 
before Petersburg, in the fall of 1864, when popular im- 
patience in vain goaded him to attack, when the press 
and the people began to demand his dismissal, and to 
stigmatize him as ' the butcher ; ' how then, when Sheri- 
dan won his great victories in the valley, and every cap 
went up for ' Little Phil,' Grant capped the whole by 
telegraphing that he regarded him as among the first of 
living generals ; how then, when Hood invaded Tennes- 
see, the lieutenant-general gave Thomas all the men he 
could, and all the means, and contributed in every way 
to the splendid success at Nashville, yet scrupulously 



172 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

refrained from doing any thing to take the glory from 
Thomas, as he might have done by simply going on in 
person ; how then, when Sherman had gone — 

'From the centre all round to the sea/ 

Grant gave him a brother's welcome, tenderly covered 
his sad mistake at diplomacy, and presented him to the 
nation as the great strategist of the war." * 

General Sherman, at several points on his march, en- 
countered severe opposition. It was not without hard 
fighting he repelled these determined foes. About the 
middle of October, he struck the Tennessee River at 
Eastport. Here he found ample supplies awaiting him, 
provided by the forethought of Grant, and steamers to 
ferry the army across, the stream. At this point the river 
is nearly a mile wide. 

With great solicitude, General Grant kept his eye upon 
Sherman's columns during every mile of their march. 
They were imperatively and immediately needed, to ena- 
ble him to strike the enemy a stunning blow. Bragg had 
sent Longstreet with a sufficient force, as he supposed, to 
annihilate Burnside's little army at Knoxville. It was not 
possible to send General Burnside any re-enforcements. 
It was known that that gallant soldier would hold out 
to the last possible moment. But there was, apparently, 
no way in which he could be saved from destruction but 
by assailing Bragg so fiercely that Longstreet would 
have to be recalled. This assault could not be made 
until General Sherman should arrive. Though General 
Sherman was straining every nerve upon the march, it 
was feared that before he reached Chattanooga General 
Burnside would be crushed, and that thus Knoxville 

* Springfield Republican. 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 173 

would fall into the bands of the foe. On the 24th of 
October, General Grant telegraphed Sherman, " Drop 
every thing east of Bear Creek, and move with your 
entire force towards Stevenson until you receive further 
orders." 

By the 1st of November, General Sherman, at the head 
of his columns, was at Florence. Again Grant tele- 
graphed, on the 7th, " The enemy have moved a great 
part of their force from this front towards Burnside. I 
have to make an immediate move from here towards their 
lines of communication, to bring them back if possible. I 
am anxious to see your old corps here at the earliest 
moment." 

It is noticeable that General Grant, immediately upon 
his arrival at Chattanooga, anticipated this movement on 
the part of the rebels ; for he, on the 26th of October, 
telegraphed General Burnside, — 

" Do you hear of any of Bragg' s army threatening you 
from the south-west ? Thomas's command is in a bad 
condition to use, for want of animals of sufficient strength 
to save his artillery, and for want of rations. If you are 
threatened with a force beyond what you are able to 
compete with, efforts must be made to assist you. 
Answer." 

The hours flew swiftly by. Longstreet was on the 
march to overwhelm Burnside. Sherman, struggling 
through the miry roads, rebuilding bridges, and often 
fighting his way, was painfully delayed. Ruin threatened 
Burnside. The loss of his army and of Knoxville 
would prove one of the severest calamities. The anxiety 
which oppressed General Grant, though concealed, must 
have been dreadful. The peril of General Burnside had 
become so great that at last Grant decided to attack 



174 v LIFE OF GENEEAL GRANT. 

Bragg' s army without waiting the arrival of Sherman. 
On the 7th of November, he issued the following orders 
to General Thomas : — 

" The news is of such a nature that it becomes an 
imperative duty for your force to draw the attention of 
the enemy from Burnside to your front. I deem the best 
movement to attack the enemy to be an attack on the 
north end of Missionary Ridge with all the force you 
can bring to bear against it ; and, when that is carried, to 
threaten and attack even the enemy's line of communica- 
tion between Dalton and Cleveland. Rations should be 
ready to issue, a sufficiency to last four days, the moment 
Missionary Ridge is in our possession; rations to be 
carried in haversacks. 

" Where there are not horses to move the artillery, 
mules must be taken from the teams, or horses from 
ambulances, or, if necessary, officers dismounted and their 
horses taken. Immediate preparations should be made 
to carry these directions into execution. The movement 
should not be made a moment later than to-morrow 
morning." 

At the same time General Grant telegraphed General 
Burnside of the measures he was adopting for his relief. 
But it turned out that so many of the.horses had perished 
that it was not possible to obtain enough to move the 
artillery. Thus they were compelled to await the arrival 
of Sherman. He needed no urgency. Fully aware of 
the exigence, he was straining every nerve of energy to 
its utmost tension. Of course the greatest anxiety was 
felt for General Burnside. No re-enforcements could be 
sent to him ; and, if they could be sent, there were no 
means then of feeding them. Rebel forces from different 
directions were marching upon him ; and it was appre- 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 175 

bended that he must fall before assaults which no skill 
or valor could resist. General Grant, however, had great 
confidence in General Burnside. 

" The continent shook with the tramp of advancing 
armies. Bridges, were built in Eastern cities for these 
soldiers to march over. Engines were brought from 
Western towns to transport their supplies. The greatest 
rivers of the republic, the Tennessee and the Cumberland, 
the Mississippi and the Ohio, were-crowded with steamers 
bringing clothes and shoes to those who were wearing 
out their garments in mighty marches, and ammunition 
and food to replace what had already been expended in 
the campaigns for Chattanooga. 

" Over half the territory in rebellion, through these 
great mountain ranges and by the side of these rushing 
streams, along the desolated cornfields and amid the 
startled recesses of the primeval forests, the bustle and 
the stir of war were rife. Two hundred thousand soldiers 
were concentrating from the East and the West, either 
in motion for this one battle-field, or guarding its ap- 
proaches, or bringing up supplies, or waiting anxiously 
for those who were, with them, to fight the battle of 
Chattanooga. And over all these preparations, and all 
these armies, the spirit of one man was dominant." * 

General Grant was by no means despairing. He had 
so much confidence in General Burnside's soldierly qual- 
ities that he believed that he would maintain his position 
until relief should come. The result proved that he was 
not deceived in his judgment. 

On the 14th of November, General Grant telegraphed 
Burnside, " Sherman's advance has reached Bridgeport. 
His whole force will be ready to move from there by 

* Military History of Ulysses S. Grant. 



176 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Tuesday at furthest. If you can hold Longstreet in check 
until he gets up, or by skirmishing and falling back can 
avoid serious loss to yourself and gain time, I will be 
able to force the enemy back from here, and place a force 
between Longstreet and Bragg that must inevitably make 
the former take to the mountain passes, by every availa- 
ble road, to get to his supplies. Sherman would have 
been here before this, but for high water in Elk River, 
driving him some thirty miles up that river to cross." 

On the 17th, he again telegraphed Burnside, " Your 
despatch received. You are doing exactly what appears 
to me to be right. I want the enemy's progress retarded 
at every point all it can be, only giving up each place 
when it becomes evident that it can no longer be held 
without endangering your force to capture. I think our 
movements here must cause Longstreet's recall within a 
day or two, if he is not successful before that time. 
Sherman moved this morning from Bridgeport with one 
division. The remainder of his command moves in the 
morning. There will be no halt until a severe battle is 
fought, or the railroads cut supplying the enemy." 

The greatest activity was now exercised in bringing 
Sherman's army to the extreme right of the enemy's 
line, where an attack was least expected, and where the 
defences were weakest. By marching his troops in the 
rear of the hills, the movement was concealed from 
the enemy ; and, by keeping up a large number of camp- 
fires at Whiteside, where the command first rested, Bragg 
was deceived into the belief that the whole of General 
Sherman's force was concentrated there. It was, however, 
all soon gathered in a concealed camp about two miles 
west of Chattanooga. 

Nothing great is ever accomplished in this world with- 



PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 177 

out encountering and triumphing over great obstacles. 
The very elements seemed to conspire against these army 
movements. Drenching rains fell ; the bridges were car- 
ried away ; the roads were cut up into sloughs. 

General Thomas's line was directly in front of Chat- 
tanooga, about a mile from the town. His position was 
strongly intrenched ; and, upon a slight elevation in his 
most advanced point, he had constructed a very effective 
redoubt, called Fort Wood. A deserter from the rebels 
stated that Bragg was secretly preparing for a retreat. 
But Grant had no idea of allowing Bragg to retire un- 
assailed. He ordered Thomas immediately to ascertain 
the truth or falsehood of the report. Twenty-seven heavy 
guns protected his line. About a mile beyond him was 
the first rebel line. 

Thomas ordered out the Fourth Corps, under General 
Granger, and advanced to develop the strength of the 
enemy. General Howard's corps was massed behind 
Granger's centre. All the arrangements for the advance 
were completed by two o'clock in the afternoon. The 
sun shone brilliantly upon an army of twenty thousand 
bayonets in line. The rebels from their heights looked 
with admiration upon the splendid pageant, regarding 
it as merely a parade. At a given signal the whole line 
advanced. The enemy from their batteries, and from 
musketry in the woods, opened a vigorous fire. But our 
advance was so rapid that two hundred of the enemy 
were captured in their rifle-pits, and in fifteen minutes 
the rebels were driven from their whole advanced line. 
We thus secured a 'very important eminence, called 
Orchard Knoll, and our line was advanced a mile. The 
new position was during the night strongly fortified, and 
artillery placed in battery. 



12 



178 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

The rebels began now fully to realize that the tide was 
turning against them. Their troops became despondent. 
The army of the Cumberland was jubilant. About five 
miles above Chattanooga, the North Chickamauga River 
enters the Cumberland from the west. Here a hundred 
and sixteen pontoons were constructed and hidden, to 
float a portion of General Sherman's troops down the 
river, and land them upon the other side of the Tennessee, 
to co-operate in the attack upon Missionary Ridge. Seven 
hundred and fifty oarsmen were selected as the motive 
power of this squadron. Sherman's army was marched 
up to this place, under cover of the forest and the hills. 

At midnight of Nov. 23d, these pontoons, loaded with 
Smith's brigade, swept silently into the Tennessee. The 
night was dark, and they floated down the river so noise- 
lessly that even the national pickets did not observe 
their passage. The troops were safely landed just below 
the mouth of the South Chickamauga, which enters the 
Tennessee from the east. The boats returned for another 
load. Before morning ten thousand men were landed 
upon that point. Before the sun rose, a substantial bridge 
was floating nearly across the river, a strong tete de pont 
had been erected, and a strong artillery force from Gen- 
eral Thomas's army was in position to defend the opera- 
tion. There were ten thousand troops on the northern 
shore still to cross. Eighty boats, each capable of carry- 
ing about forty men, were rapidly transporting them 
across. Engineers were at work at both ends of tlie 
bridge, and the ends would soon meet in the middle of 
the stream. In the distance, a column was seen winding 
over the western hills, approaching the river. The spec- 
tacle, as beheld in the rays of the morning by the rebels, 
from the heights of Missionary Ridge, must have been 
sublime, and yet somewhat appalling. 






PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 179 

General Sherman stood at the head of the bridge as it 
was being pushed out into the stream from the northern 
shore. General Howard arrived, — advanced to the head 
of the bridge which was in construction from the south- 
ern shore. There was now but a small chasm to be 
filled. Across this chasm General Howard introduced 
himself. We think that this was the first meeting of 
these illustrious men, afterwards united in so many of 
the most brilliant achievements which history has recorded. 
As soon as the last boat was in its place, bridging the gulf, 
Sherman sprang across, and the two generals clasped 
hands. It was a pledge of that fraternal union which 
blended the two armies of the Cumberland and of the 
Tennessee, and which grew stronger and more sacred 
every day, until our armies, having trampled rebellion 
everywhere beneath their feet, raised the shout of victory 
over a nation saved. 

At noon the bridge was" completed, and Sherman's 
division, men, horses, and artillery, were on the southern 
shore. At one o'clock, in three columns, they were 
marching en echelon from the river, following the general 
course, eastward, of the South Chickamauga. 

Clouds had gathered in the sky. A drizzling rain was 
falling, and the misty atmosphere kindly veiled the move- 
ments of the troops from rebel eyes. Our lines now ex- 
tended along the south banks of the Tennessee, from 
Hooker's Station below, at Wauhatchie, to Sherman's 
position on the Chickamauga, a distance of nearly thirteen 
miles. Thus at last, after these herculean exertions, 
General Grant was prepared to throw down the gage of 
battle. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 

Lookout Mountain. — General Hooker's 'Advance. — The Battle in the 
Clouds. — Retreat of the Foe. — Position of the Armies. — Plan of 
the Battle. — Characteristics of General Grant. — Movements of Sher- 
man; of Hooker. — The Decisive Charge by Thomas. — The Victory. 
— Sheridan's Pursuit. — Activity of General Grant. — The great Abil- 
ity he displayed. 

HE rebels were well aware that an imme- 
diate assault was at hand. Strong as they 
were upon their mountain heights, they 
deemed it scarcely possible that their works 
could be stormed. General Sherman, ad- 
vancing in three columns from the river, gained the top 
of the hill at the northern extremity of Missionary Ridge. 
He had attained this point almost unobserved by the ene- 
my. An attack was at once made, but it was repelled 
with but little loss ; and, as night came on, Sherman was 
left to fortify himself in the important position which he 
had gained. He found, to his disappointment, that he 
had still a gorge to descend, and another difficult emi- 
nence to climb, before he would be fairly upon the plateau 
of Missionary Ridge. But for this, probably, his assault 
the next day would have proved an entire success. 

All through the night, heavy details were at work upon 
the intrenchments, while a dense river-fog aided in con- 

180 




BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 181 

cealing his movements. Towards morning the vapors 
were dissipated, the stars came out brightly, and Sher- 
man's camp-fires revealed to thousands of eager eyes in 
Chattanooga, and even to the rebels on the -distant heights 
of Lookout Mountain, that the Union troops were in posi- 
tion on Missionary Ridge. Hooker, with the Eleventh 
Corps, was still several miles below, in Lookout Valley, 
facing the extreme left of the rebel lines. Thomas, with 
the Army of the Cumberland, was in front of the enemy's 
centre. 

No description can convey to the mind of the reader 
a correct idea of the multiplied evolutions in the great 
battle which ensued. Wellington said that one might as 
well attempt to describe the positions, ever changing, of 
the dancers in the mazes of the most complicated cotil- 
lion, as to describe the evolutions of a great battle. We 
can only give the prominent features and the grand result. 
The vast battle-field extended through forests, and over 
mountains and valleys, for a distance of thirteen miles. 

On the 24th, Hooker made a very gallant advance upon 
Lookout Mountain, fighting all day and late into the hours 
of the night. When it is remembered that this mountain 
is two thousand feet high, its sides covered with an almost- 
impenetrable forest, rugged, gullied, encumbered with 
enormous bowlders and precipitous cliffs, while thousands 
of armed men, with infantry and artillery, occupied every 
important position to resist the ascent, it may be imagined 
how great must have been the difficulty of its capture. 

General Hooker marched down Lookout Valley to 
attack the head of Lookout Mountain, which composed 
the southern extremity of the rebel line. The rebels 
occupied the crest in great force, their intrenchments 
extending down the front and slope of the mountain to 



182 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

its base. The first thirty feet of descent from the sum- 
mit presents a perpendicular wall of rock. A narrow 
road, which was often a path along which but one indi- 
vidual could walk, ascended the south-western face of 
the mountain. General Hooker pushed his columns 
through the concealment of the forest until he gained a 
favorable point for ascending the hill. At the same time, 
to engage the attention of the enemy, his batteries opened 
a terrific fire, to which the rebels vigorously replied ; and 
the whole mountain seemed to shake beneath the heavy 
explosions. The summit was soon hid from view in Chat- 
tanooga by the cloud of smoke which settled around it. 
The flashes of the guns and the thunderings from the 
cloud reminded the beholder of the awful scenes of Sinai. 

The rebels, finding themselves suddenly attacked in 
flank and rear, were thrown into dismay. Effectual resist- 
ance was impossible, and from those cliffs retreat was 
very difficult. Gradually they drew back, yielding posi- 
tion after position, and fighting step by step. Our victo- 
rious troops with cheers pressed on, driving the foe before 
them from west to east. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy was 
encountered in strength, and a terrible battle ensued. 
It was the severest struggle of the day ; but the foe was 
driven back, and Hooker's indomitable host pressed on. 
The day was now spent : darkness came to arrest the 
conquerors, and to aid the vanquished in their flight. 
General Hooker's camp-fires proclaimed to his friends 
below the glorious victory he had achieved. Lookout 
Mountain had been carried by storm, and the victors, 
were reposing upon its summit. During the night the 
foe fled down the rough road which wound along the 
eastern side of the mountain. They crossed Chatta- 



BATTLE OF MISSIONARY EIDGE. 183 

nooga River, and joined their already disheartened con- 
federates on Missionary Ridge. Thus terminated the 
second day of this great conflict. We had captured 
Lookout Mountain and two thousand prisoners. The 
rebels were all now concentrated upon Missionary Ridge, 
and we were in position to assail them to advantage in 
front, flank, and rear. Sherman, Thomas, Howard, 
Hooker, were the able chieftains who led the troops 
through whose bravery and energy these great achieve- 
ments had been accomplished ; but the imperial mind 
which had conceived and directed all was that of Gen- 
eral Grant. His wonderful combinations, his far-reaching 
foresight, — anticipating every peril, and providing for 
every emergence, — and his extraordinary administrative 
ability, had evolved these results, which were overwhelm- 
ing the foe with despair, and electrifying the nation with 

joy- 
While these sublime scenes were being enacted, Gen- 
eral Grant might be seen — a plain man, in plain dress, 
with no badge of distinction — limping, from the effects 
of his fall, alone through the post of Chattanooga. No 
parade surrounded him ; no brilliant staff followed his 
footsteps ; no bustle accompanied his movements. His 
voice was calm and low and, gentle. Not an impassioned 
word escaped his lips. No sign of impatience could be 
seen in gesture or countenance. The absorption of his 
soul in the migh ty enterprise was too deep to admit of 
those ebullitions of pride and passion too often witnessed 
on similar occasions. Such are the lineaments of one of 
Nature's noblemen. 

The morning of Nov. 25 dawned cold and raw, though 
the sun rose brilliantly in a cloudless sky. The foe 
was concentrated in his strong intrenchmcnts on Mis- 



184 LIFE OF GENEEAL GEANT. 

sionary Ridge, which, it will be remembered, was seven 
miles long, and rose to the height of four hundred feet 
from the plain. General Sherman had gained possession 
of some heights on the north of the ridge, facing the 
enemy's extreme right. General Thomas had spread 
out his intrenched lines in both directions, north and 
south from Orchard Knob, and was thus prepared to 
assail the foe in his centre from the west. General 
Hooker, having carried Lookout Mountain, was ready to 
follow the retreating foe, and assail him upon his extreme 
left, on the south end of Missionary Ridge. 

General Grant, in preparation for the great struggle, 
had taken his position on Orchard Knoll, from which 
point the whole field of battle was displayed. Bragg's 
headquarters were plainly visible on the summit of the 
ridge. " Trees, houses, fences, all landmarks in the val- 
ley, had been swept away for camps ; and the two antago- 
nists, each from his high position, looked down upon the 
board where the great game was playing." 

The plan was, for General Sherman to make a vigor- 
ous assault upon Missionary Ridge from the north ; at 
the same time, Hooker was to assail it from the south. 
Bragg would thus be compelled to weaken his centre to 
send re-enforcements to the menaced points. Thomas 
was then to push forward his whole force from the centre, 
and carry the ridge by storm. The jplan proved a perfect 
success. 

Before the dawn, General Sherman was in his saddle ; 
and, as the sun rose, his bugles sounded the advance. 
The rebel works were attacked with great vehemence, 
Sherman's troops advancing to within pistol-shot of their 
lines. General Grant, from Orchard Knoll, watched the 
progress of the fight. 



BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 185 

Iii the mean time, General Hooker was advancing 
with his triumphant band from the heights of Lookout. 
He had descended the north-eastern brow of the moun- 
tain, crossed the valley, and was now in the rear of the 
rebel line, making the ascent of Mission Ridge. All the 
troops in that vicinity were concentrated there to resist 
his advance. 

Bragg, finding his lines sorely pressed by Sherman, 
despatched a large force from his centre to strengthen 
his right wing. As Grant stood upon Orchard Knoll, he 
had the satisfaction of seeing a massive column of Bragg's 
forces marching, regiment after regiment, two or three 
miles to the north, to meet the shock of Sherman's im- 
petuous assault. This was the very movement which 
Grant had been manoeuvring to accomplish. He had 
thus, as it were, taken command of Bragg's troops. 

The decisive moment had now arrived. The assault- 
ing troops of Thomas's army were concealed in four col- 
umns behind Orchard Knoll, held like hounds in the 
leash. " Now, boys, onward!" exclaimed Grant cheer- 
fully, as six guns gave the signal for the charge. These 
four divisions were led by Johnson, Sheridan, Wood, and 
Baird. The distance to the first line of rebel rifle-pits 
was from four to nine hundred yards. The Union troops 
emerged from their concealment, and advanced upon the 
double-quick. A tremendous fire from the batteries on 
the cliff was instantly opened upon them. 

" I happened," said Sheridan, in describing this scene 
to a friend, " to bo in advance of my line as it charged." 
We cannot help remarking, in passing, that General 
Sheridan very often happened to be just in that position 
in the perilous hour of assault. " Looking back," he 
continued, « I was impressed with the terrible sight of 



186 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

approaching bayonets. The men were on a run, and the 
line had become almost a crowd ; and the rebels appeared 
unable to resist the effect upon their imagination, or their 
nerves, of this waving, glittering mass of steel." 

This line of rebel rifle-pits ran along near the foot of 
the ridge. Not a gun was fired by our troops as they 
rushed onwards, the bristling line of steel glittering in 
the rays of the afternoon sun. The rebels were taken so 
by surprise, that, after a few random discharges of their 
rifles, they abandoned themselves to despair. Some 
threw themselves prostrate in the trenches as our troops 
rushed over them. A thousand were thus in a moment 
taken prisoners, and ordered to the rear. Others endeav- 
ored to escape by clambering the hill. 

Thirty pieces of artillery opened upon them with canis- 
ter and grape ; and a storm of bullets from musketry 
swept their ranks, as the Union troops laboriously and 
yet impetuously pursued the fugitives up the steep accliv- 
ity. Step by step the advance was made. Five or six 
color-bearers were shot down in succession, bearing a 
single flag. 

About half-way up the hill, another line of rifle-pits 
was encountered. This was also carried as was the first. 
There was still another line of rifle-pits upon the summit, 
crowded with sharpshooters, and blazing with an inces- 
sant fire of musketry. But undismayed, unbroken, still 
onward pressed this line of heroes. They reached the 
crest. With shouts which rose above the roar of artil- 
lery and the rattle of musketry, the Union troops rushed, 
like a living tide, into the rebel works. So resistless and 
sadden was the movement that crowds were taken in the 
trenches. 

A scene of tumult, confusion, and terror ensued, which 



BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 187 

cannot be imagined. The roar of battle continued, — 
sixty explosions of cannon each minute. The victors 
and the vanquished, in numbers which could not be 
counted, were blended upon the ramparts and in the 
trenches. There were thirteen thousand in the assault, 
eight thousand behind the intrenchments. Shouts of 
victory and cries of despair deafened the ear. Whole 
regiments threw down their arms ; others fled wildly, 
pelted by bullets. In the hot pursuit, the victors often 
had not time to reload their guns, but assailed the fugi- 
tives with stones. The very batteries with which the 
rebels had just been dealing death into our lines were 
turned against the disordered masses. The field was won. 
The stars and stripes rose, — waved triumphantly over 
the rebel redoubts. Their army was cut in twain. Noth- 
ing now remained for them but a precipitate retreat, or 
destruction. 

Just then, General Grant appeared upon the summit 
of the hill. At the sight of their beloved chieftain, who 
was now to inscribe " Chattanooga " upon the banner 
already blazoned with the glorious names of " Donelson " 
and of " Vicksburg," they raised a shout which reached 
the ears of the rejoicing thousands in the city below, and 
which added new speed to the footsteps of the fugitives, 
who in the most rapid flight alone could hope for safety. 

" There is nothing in this world," said the Duke of 
Wellington, " more dreadful than a great victory, except 
a great defeat." This victory cost four thousand Union 
men, in killed and wounded. Who can tell the anguish 
which these tidings conveyed to thousands of homes ! 
The rebels also were sons, husbands, fathers. Many of 
them had been forced into the light. The amount of 
their loss can never be known. The hill was covered 



188 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

with heaps of their dead, in every form of mutilation. 
Seven thousand prisoners were driven into our rear. Ten 
thousand stand of arms and fifty-two pieces of artillery 
were captured. 

In fifty-five minutes this great achievement was con- 
summated. Bragg was in despair. He had considered 
his position impregnable, and had not the slightest idea 
that the Union troops could drive him from it. The 
attempts he made to rally the fugitives to form another 
line in the rear were entirely unavailing. The disaster 
was irreparable. A panic had seized both officers and 
men, and they could no more be arrested in their flight 
than the torrent of Niagara could be stopped in its plunge. 
Thomas was in front, Sherman on their right, and the 
thunders of Hooker's advancing columns were heard 
approaching them on their left. 

Fortunately for the vanquished, night now came. The 
rebels were familiar with the roads ; and, as they had 
fought from behind their trendies, they were not much 
fatigued. The Union troops, from the impetuosity of 
their charge, and from the toil of clambering the hill, 
were greatly exhausted, and were in no condition to 
pursue, — groping their way in the dark, through un- 
known roads, over a strange country. 

Still the impetuous Sheridan pressed forward, during 
the twilight, upon the heels of the fugitives. He came 
near capturing Bragg himself. A large wagon-train was 
seen a half-mile before him in the valley below, with 
several pieces of artillery, flying over the roads, the horses 
goaded to their utmost speed. 

Sheridan urged his troops forward, eager for the prize. 
The rebels planted a battery upon an eminence, to beat 
him back. It was charged in front, flank, and rear. u It 



BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. 189 

was now dark ; and, just as the head of one of these 
columns reached the summit of the hill, the moon rose 
from behind, and a medallion view of the column was 
disclosed, as it crossed the disk of the moon, and attacked 
the enemy. Outflanked on right and left, the rebels 
fled, leaving the coveted artillery and trains. Those 
who escaped capture were driven across Chickamauga 
Creek, where they burned the bridges almost while they 
passed." * 

At half-past seven o'clock, that evening, General Grant 
sent the following modest telegram to General Halleck : — 

" Although the battle lasted from early dawn till dark 
this evening, I believe I am not premature in announcing 
a complete victory over Bragg. Lookout Mountain-top, 
all the rifle-pits in Chattanooga Valley, and Missionary 
Ridge entire, have been carried, and are now held by us. 
I have no idea of finding Bragg here to-morrow.' , 

That night General Grant wrote to General Sherman, 
who had so signally contributed to the success of the 
day by drawing the heaviest blows of the enemy upon 
himself, — 

" No doubt you witnessed the handsome manner in 
which Thomas's troops carried Missionary Ridge this 
afternoon, and can feel a just pride, too, in the part 
taken by the forces under your command, in taking, first, 
so much of the same range of hills, and then in attracting 
so much of the attention of the enemy as to make 
Thomas's part certain of success. The next thing now 
will be to relieve Burnside." 

At the same hour he wrote to Wilcox, " The great 
defeat Bragg has sustained in the three days' battle, ter- 
minating at dusk this evening, and a movement which 

* Military History of General Grant. 



190 I/FE OF GENERAL GRANT., 

I shall immediately make, I think will relieve Burnside, 
if he holds out a few days longer. I shall pursue Bragg 
to-morrow, and start a heavy column up the Tennessee 
Valley the day after." 

A few other of the despatches which were sent off 
this night, after these three days of terrible excitement 
and fatigue, we will give, as illustrative of the wide scope 
of General Grant's cares, and the tireless energies of his 
mind : — 

" I have heard from Burnside to the 23d, when he 
had rations for ten or twelve days*, and expected to hold 
out that time. I shall move a force from here on to the 
railroad between Cleveland and Dal ton, and send a 
column of twenty thousand men up the south side of the 
Tennessee, without wagons, carrying four days' rations, 
and taking a steamer loaded with rations, from which 
to draw on the route. If Burnside holds out until this 
force gets beyond Kingston, I think the enemy will fly, 
and, with the present state of the roads, must abandon 
almost every thing. I believe that Bragg will lose much 
of his army by desertion, in consequence of his defeat 
in the last three days' fight." 

This great victory pierced the heart of the Rebellion. 
It rescued Burnside from his perils. Kentucky and 
Tennessee were delivered from rebel thraldom. Georgia 
and the South-west were threatened in the rear ; and the 
glorious victory of Chattanooga was added to the list 
of those which already honored the name of Ulysses S. 
Grant. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE PURSUIT. 




Night-Scene. — Grant's Despatches. — The Pursuit. — Destruction of 
Chattanooga Depot. — Speech of Jefferson Davis. — The Contest at 
Ringgold. — The Campaign and the Great Battle. — Lincoln's Procla- 
mation and Letter. — HaUeck's Report. — Movements for the Relief of 
Burnside. — Grant's Despatches. 

HOUGH the rebel army was broken and dis- 
persed, it was still a powerful organization. 
General Grant wished to destroy it as ef- 
fectually as possible. At daylight, the next 
morning, the troops were pushed forward 
in a vigorous pursuit. Everywhere they encountered 
evidences of the tremendous disaster which had over- 
whelmed the enemy. Abandoned guns, broken wagons, 
and fragments of small arms, everywhere strewed the 
road. The disheartened fugitives often seemed not un- 
willing to be taken captive. They were gathered up 
by hundreds. Sometimes whole regiments, when they 
caught sight of our advancing columns, threw down 
their arms, and dispersed in all directions, leaving their 
wounded in our hands. 

During the night, the country for miles around was 
illumined by the blaze of huge fires. The rebels had 
gathered an abundance of the materiel of war in their 
encampment, which they supposed no foe could assail. 

191 



192 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

They were now applying the torch to every thing which 
they could not carry away. The flight of the routed 
army was in a south-east direction, towards Ringgold and 
Dalton. All the roads were clogged with the tumultu- 
ous mass, infantry, artillery, baggage-wagons, and swarms 
of fugitives who had lost their regiments, all blended in 
vast confusion. The rebels burned the bridges behind 
them, and felled the forest trees into the roads, to impede 
the pursuit of the avenging host pressing upon their 
rear. General Grant said to Sherman, — 

" We will push Bragg with all our strength to-morrow, 
and try if we cannot cut off a good portion of his new 
troops and trains. His men have manifested a strong 
desire to desert for some time past, and we will now 
give them a chance. Move the advance force on the 
most easterly road taken by the enemy." 

To Thomas he gave directions, " You will start a 
strong reconnoissance in the morning, at seven, a.m., to 
ascertain the position of the enemy. If it is ascertained 
that the enemy are in full retreat, follow them with all 
your force, except that which you expect Granger to 
take to Knoxville. Four days' rations should be got up 
to the men between this and morning, and also a sup- 
ply of ammunition. I shall want Granger's expedition 
to get off by the day after to-morrow." 

Generals Hooker and Palmer pursued, the next morn- 
ing, along the Atlanta Road towards Ringgold. General 
Grant was with the most advanced pursuing column. 
These troops soon reached the Chickamauga Depot, 
easily dispersing a small force stationed upon a hill to 
repel them. The scene of ruin presented at the depot 
was one of the most desolate pictures of the war. The 
rebels had accumulated here, in a position which they 




Chattanooga I ^ A 




THE PURSUIT. 193 

considered unassailable, provisions and ordnance stores 
for a vast army. In the dismay which their sudden rout 
created, they, in the darkness of the night, threw as 
many of these stores as possible upon their teams, and 
hurried them off. But as the dawn approached, and 
they heard the tramp of our advancing columns, they 
applied the torch to every thing that would burn, and fled 
with the utmost precipitation. 

As a brigade of General Sherman's command, under 
Jefferson C. Davis, came up, the depot was found in 
flames. There were immense piles of burning corn-meal 
and bacon. Barrels and boxes were scattered around in 
the wildest confusion. Pontoon -boats, gun-carriages, 
wagons, were piled together in smouldering ruin. Food 
of all kinds — tea, coffee, sugar, flour, molasses — was 
mingled with cartridge-boxes, broken muskets, and small 
arms of every kind, — strewing the ground. There were 
boxes of ammunition here and there, — some broken open, 
with sparks flying all around them. There were shells 
and round shot, and caissons and limber-chests, and 
broken wheels and tongues of wagons, and tents, — 
every thing, indeed, which an army of a hundred thou- 
sand men could need for an almost permanent encamp- 
ment. 

The flight of the enemy had been so precipitate that 
he had not been able to destroy one-third of his com- 
missary, quartermaster, and ordnance stores. And still 
it is estimated that the flames consumed property to the 
amount of fifty thousand dollars. Our troops succeeded 
in rescuing from the general destruction a pontoon-train 
of fifteen boats, two sixty-four-pounder rifled siege-guns, 
twenty army-wagons, sixty thousand rations of shelled 
corn, fifty thousand rations of corn-meal, four hundred 

13 



194 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

gallons of molasses, one thousand pounds of bacon, 
together with a considerable quantity of ordnance stores, 
artillery, and small-arm ammunition. 

All the day long, by several roads, the enemy fled : all 
the day long, by as many roads, the victors pursued. 
Our troops often marched through the camp-fires of the 
foe, still blazing upon the Chickamauga hills. The in- 
stigators of this infamous rebellion had cruelly deceived 
the ignorant masses at the South. It is stated on good 
authority, that Jefferson Davis, in a public speech at 
Memphis, in 1861, urging the deluded " poor whites " to 
rebellion, said, — 

" You need not fear to cast off your allegiance to the 
General Government. There will be no war. The Yan- 
kees will never fight. One Southern man can at any 
time whip five Northern men, if he can only run fast 
enough to catch them." 

This was the prevailing spirit in the South. There 
was need of Vicksburg and Chattanooga to undeceive 
them. There could never have been true alliance be- 
tween the North and the South until the Southern peo- 
ple were disabused of these sentiments of ignorance and 
conceit. The war has proved that both parties are equally 
brave : upon any field where the numbers arrayed against 
each other are equal, the superior intelligence of the North 
comes in as a makeweight, and turns the scale in its 
favor. 

The rebels ran : the patriots chased them. The route 
was strewed with the evidences of the precipitation of 
their flight. Wherever there was a brief conflict, the rebel 
dead were left unburied, and all the nameless debris of a 
routed army covered the ground for miles. Many pris- 
oners were picked up by the way. Just at night, as 



THE PURSUIT. 195 

General Sherman, in the advance, was emerging from an 
extended swamp, he came upon the rear-guard of the foe. 
Quite a sharp battle ensued, which was soon terminated 
by the darkness. The town of Ringgold was but five 
miles distant. Just beyond this town, there was a gap, or 
gorge, through one of the mountain ranges with which 
this section of country abounds. 

Ringgold was a small town, upon the Western and 
Atlantic Railroad, containing about twenty-five hundred 
inhabitants. It was situated just in front of the defile to 
which we have alluded. This gorge, through which the 
road passes, is scarcely a hundred yards in breadth at its 
widest point. The cliffs on either side rise to the height 
of four or five hundred feet. This gap is about half a 
mile long. Here the rebels prepared for a very desperate 
resistance, until their trains, and the main body of their 
army, could reach a safe distance on the other side of the 
ridge. Upon the summit of these hills they planted their 
batteries. They posted their sharpshooters and lines of 
infantry in the forest which fringed their sides. A bat- 
tery was also placed in the mouth of the gap, supported 
by four lines of infantry. Four thousand troops were 
left to guard this pass, where it would seem that a few 
hundred men might long hold an army in check. 

Here the enemy made quite a desperate stand. Our 
advance troops, under General Osterhaus, were driven 
back, being assailed from the front and on both flanks. 
This transient success quite animated the enemy, who 
were for the moment, and at that point, numerically far 
superior. They closely followed our retiring troops, 
pouring into their bosoms volley after volley with deadly 
effect. In this brief repulse, the Seventh Ohio, of Geary's 
division, lost all of its officers. Our men were exceed- 



196 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ingly reluctant to retire, even before the most overwhelm- 
ing odds of a foe whom' they had recently so signally 
beaten. Soon a couple of batteries came up to the 
protection of our sorely-pressed troops, and, taking com- 
manding positions, opened upon the enemy on the right 
and the left. They were thus thrown slightly into disor- 
der, when a charge was made, and again they fled in great 
confusion. General Grant, as usual, was found at this 
post of difficulty, and directed the battle. The rebels 
were driven through the gap, and our troops pursued them 
into the valley beyond. In this brief but desperate fight, 
the foe lost a hundred and thirty in killed, who were 
left dead upon the field. We also took two pieces of 
artillery and two hundred and thirty prisoners. Our loss 
was sixty killed and three hundred and seventy wounded. 
The enemy was driven out of Tennessee into Georgia. 
General Grant now retraced his steps, and sent General 
Granger to march as rapidly as possible to the relief of 
General Burnside. A reconnoissance was, however, 
made by General Hooker, in the direction of the flying 
foe, for several miles. Their line of retreat was found 
strewn with broken caissons and wagons, and the bodies 
of dead and dying men, — an awful picture of the miseries 
which war engenders. 

The campaign of Chattanooga was now virtually termi- 
nated. As a campaign running through several months, 
it was one of the most memorable in the world's history. 
The battle of Chattanooga, occupying several days, will 
ever be classed as among the most memorable in the 
annals of war. General Grant hurled his columns of 
sixty thousand men, upon a field of battle thirteen miles 
in extent, against forty-five thousand men apparently as 
strongly intrenched as they could be by the united force 
of the works of nature and of art. 



THE PURSUIT. 107 

The victory was not the result of accident. It was not 
to be attributed even to the marvellous gallantry of the 
soldiers, without which all plans are unavailing. No 
amount of courage could have carried those works, — 
behind which one man, by the rules of war, is considered 
equal to five before them, — but for the sagacity with which 
General Grant made all the arrangements, and guided 
every movement. In the military history of General 
Grant, it is well said, — 

" Few battles have ever been won so strictly according 
to the plan laid down. Grant's instructions in advance 
would almost serve as a history of the contest. Hooker 
was to draw attention to the right, to seize and hold 
Lookout Mountain ; while Sherman, attacking Missionary 
Ridge on the extreme left, was still further to distract the 
enemy ; and then, when re-enforcements and attention 
should be drawn to both the rebel flanks, the centre was 
to be assaulted by the main body of Grant's force, under 
Thomas. Every thing happened exactly as had been 
foreseen. 

" Each event proceeded regularly according to the cal- 
culation. Each subordinate carried out his part exactly 
as he had been ordered. Each army, brought from a 
distance, came upon the spot intended, crossed a river or 
climbed a mountain at the precise moment ; and even the 
unexpected emergencies of the fight contributed to the 
result as if anticipated and arranged. In this respect, 
Chattanooga was one of the most notable battles ever 
fought." 

A woman who resided upon the plateau of Missionary 
Ridge said to one of our generals, " Before you all 
came up here, I asked General Bragg, ' What are you 
going to do with me, general ? ' He says to me, ' Lord ! 



198 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

madam, the Yankees will never dare to come up here.' 
And it was not fifteen minutes till you were all around 
here." 

This victory was regarded as so signal as to call for 
national thanksgiving. President Lincoln issued the 
following proclamation : — 

" Reliable information having been received that the 
insurgent force is retreating from East Tennessee, under 
circumstances rendering it probable that the Union 
forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that important 
position, and esteeming this to be of high national 
consequence, I recommend that all loyal people, do, on 
receipt of this information, assemble at their places of 
worship, and render special homage and gratitude to 
Almighty God for this great advancement of the national 
cause." 

In reference to this campaign, General Halleck said, 
in his annual report, " Considering the strength of the 
rebel position, and the difficulty of storming his intrench- 
ments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered 
the most remarkable in history. Not only did the of- 
ficers and men exhibit great skill and daring in their 
operations on the field, but the highest praise is due to 
the commanding general, for his admirable dispositions 
for dislodging the enemy from a position apparently im- 
pregnable. Moreover, by turning his right flank, and 
throwing him back upon Ringgold and Dalton, Sherman's 
forces were interposed between Bragg and Longstreet, so 
as to prevent any possibility of their forming a junction." 

Upon the widely-extended battle-field of Chattanooga, 
General Grant lost five thousand six hundred and six- 
teen in killed, wounded, and missing. The loss of the 
enemy has never been ascertained. But General Grant 



THE PURSUIT. If 9 

captured six thousand one hundred and forty-two pris- 
oners, forty pieces of artillery, sixty-nine artillery car- 
riages and caissons, and seven thousand stand of small 
arms. It is supposed that the rebel army must have 
lost, in all, not less than fifteen thousand men. 

General Burnside at Knoxville, a hundred miles dis- 
tant, rendered very efficient aid towards the great victory 
at Chattanooga. He fell back gradually from his ad- 
vanced positions, luring Longstreet on farther and farther 
from Bragg, so as to render his return to aid Bragg im- 
possible. Indeed, he threw such obstacles in the way 
of the foe as to compel Bragg to send additional troops 
to Longstreet. 

By the 17th of November, General Burnside had con- 
centrated all his forces behind his intrenchments at 
Knoxville. The rebel army, pressing him closely, in- 
vested the city. The old fortifications were strength- 
ened, new ones were erected, and preparations were 
made for the most determined resistance. Rifle-pits 
were dug, abatis of felled trees formed, and every thing 
done which skill could suggest to repel an assault or 
to sustain a siege. The great foe to be dreaded was 
famine. 

General John G. Foster was on the way from Wash- 
ington, to take with him a re-enforcement from Cumber- 
land Gap. But the city was so closely besieged that he 
could not force his way through the enemy's lines. On 
the 28th, just after the termination of the pursuit of the 
rebels at Ringgold, General Grant telegraphed General 
Foster, — 

" The fourth corps, Major-General Granger command- 
ing, left here to-day, with orders to push with all possible 
speed through to Knoxville. Sherman is already in 



200 LTFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

motion for Hiawassee, and will go all the way, if necessary. 
Communicate this information to Burnside as soon as 
possible, and at any cost, with directions to hold to the 
very last moment ; and we shall not only relieve him, but 
destroy Longstreet." 

The next day he sent a despatch to Granger, urging 
him to press forward with the utmost expedition. In 
this he wrote, " On the 23d instant, General Burnside 
telegraphed that his rations would hold out ten or twelve 
days. At the end of this time, unless relieved from the 
outside, he must surrender or retreat. The latter will 
be an impossibility. You are now going for the purpose 
of relieving this garrison. You see the short time in 
which relief must be afforded, or be too late, and hence 
the necessity for forced marches. I want to urge upon 
you, in the strongest possible manner, the necessity of 
reaching Burnside in the shortest possible time." 

General Grant's anxiety for General Burnside was 
sleepless. He knew that that gallant soldier would do 
every thing winch mortal courage and endurance could 
achieve. But famine is a resistless foe. So great 
was General Grant's anxiety that he became dissatisfied 
with General Granger for not pressing forward more 
impetuously. On the 29th, he sent General Sherman, 
the most energetic of men, to supersede General Granger. 

At the same time, he sent in duplicate the following 
despatch to the officer in command at Kingston. He 
was directed to be sure and let one of them fall into the 
hands of the enemy. The other was to be forwarded 
to General Burnside at all hazards, and at the earliest 
possible moment. The despatch was as follows: — 

" I congratulate you on the tenacity with which you 
have thus far held out against vastly superior forces. 



THE PURSUIT. 201 

Do not be forced into surrender by short rations. Take 
all the citizens have, to enable you to hold out yet a few 
days longer. As soon as you are relieved from the pres- 
ence of the enemy, you can replace to them every thing 
taken from them. Within a few days, you will be re- 
lieved. There are now three columns in motion for 
your relief, — one from here, moving up the south bank 
of the river, under Sherman ; one from Decherd, under 
Elliott ; and one from Cumberland Gap, under Foster. 
These three columns will be able to crush Longstreet's 
forces, or drive them from the valley, and must all of 
them be within twenty-four hours' march of you by the 
time this reaches you, supposing you to get it on Tues- 
day the 1st instant." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 

The Siege of Knoxville. — Preparations for Defence. — Rebel Attack upon 
Fort Sanders. — Bloody Repulse. — Flight of Longstreet. — Arrival of 
Sherman. — Grant's Congratulatory Order. — His Energy. — Testimony 
of the Indian Chief. — National Testimonials. — Speeches in Congress. 
— Medal. — Sherman's Raid. — Exploring Mountain Passes. — Visit to 
St. Louis. 




NOXYILLE is situated on the north bank 
of the Holston River. On the south it is 
protected from assault by the stream. The 
rebels crossed the river, to attack the city 
from the north, and invested it in a circu- 
lar line of earthworks from the river abov^ to the river 
below the city. In various ways, intelligence was kept 
up with General Grant ; and occasionally a forage-train 
ran in with a small supply of food. 

The beleaguered soldiers heard, with great exultation, 
of the prosperous state of affairs at Chattanooga. The 
beleaguering host received the same tidings with dismay. 
Longstreet understood full well that relief would be im- 
mediately despatched to Burnside, should success crown 
our arms at Chattanooga. He could consequently no 
longer rely upon the slow operations of a siege. His 
only chance of capturing Knoxville was to take it by 
immediate and direct assault. Indeed, he found sud- 

202 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 203 

denly his own condition to be one of extreme peril. He 
was in danger of being cut off from all possibility of 
retreat, and of being destroyed, or captured, with his 
whole command. 

General Burnside's line of defence closely surrounded 
the city. On the north-east corner of that line, there was 
a heavy swell of land, upon which he planted a battery 
protected by effective earthworks. The post was named 
Fort Sanders, in honor of the distinguished patriot gen- 
eral who fell in the early part of the siege. As the pos- 
session of that eminence would enable the enemy to 
command the city, the position had been fortified with 
the utmost care. A dense forest covered the sides of 
the hill. These trees were felled, presenting an abatis 
of timber and sharpened branches through which it 
would be very difficult for the foe to penetrate. 

Between this network of forest-trees and the fort, a 
space had been cleared, two or three hundred yards in 
width, so as to afford free range for grape and canister. 
Across this open space, wires had been stretched, so as to 
be imperceptible to the eye. When Longstreet heard of 
the defeat of Bragg, he felt the necessity of immediate 
and desperate action, as his only escape from ruin. Ac- 
cordingly, he ordered this work to be stormed. 

It was Saturday night, Nov. 28. The perilous task 
was assigned to four brigades of picked regiments. In 
the night, these men, with heroism which we cannot but 
admire, deeply as we condemn their cause, worked their 
way painfully through the abatis until they reached the 
clearing at its edge. Here they slept upon their arms, 
awaiting the dawn of the morning which would consign 
many of them to a sleep from which there would be no 
earthly waking. They were then almost within rifle- 



204 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

range of our works. Their sharpshooters were pushed 
forward in the darkness some rods in advance, where 
they hastily dug rifle-pits for their protection. 

Our watchful troops were prepared for the onset. With 
the first light of the sabbath morning, the enemy opened 
a furious fire upon the fort with his artillery, hoping to 
disable our guns. The fire was continued for nearly 
half an hour, without producing any serious effect. Our 
batteries remained silent. The men were waiting for the 
assault, when every discharge would surely accomplish 
its mission. After the bombardment, the signal for the 
charge was given. A heavy column, which had been 
concentrated for the purpose, emerged from the abatis 
upon the cleared space, at the full run. A scene ensued 
of carnage and of desperate courage unsurpassed during 
the war. 

As the rebels rushed across the open space, our bat- 
teries opened upon them, at point-blank range, in rapid, 
deadly discharge of grape and canister, while the infantry 
kept up an incessant fire of well-aimed bullets. Not a shot 
was thrown away. It was an awful slaughter. Those in 
the front of the column were tripped up by the concealed 
wires. But the weight of the column was such, pressed 
forward by the frenzy of battle, that those who were 
thrown down by the wires, or who fell torn by the bullet 
or the shell, were trampled beneath the heels of their 
comrades, who were pressed onward by those behind. It 
was an awful scene for a peaceful sabbath morning. The 
thunders of artillery, the rattle of musketry, the explo- 
sion of shells, and the whiz of Minie balls, blended with 
the half-delirious shouts of onset, the shrieks of the 
wounded trampled upon, and the groans of the dying. 

But Pity must close her eyes and deafen her ears upon 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 205 

the field of battle. Over the dead and over the wounded 
the trampling column swept on. They reached the 
ditch. They swarmed through it, endeavoring to climb 
the parapet. Hand-grenades were thrown into the midst 
of the struggling mass, exploding with horrible effect. 
The cannon opened 'upon them with triple rounds of 
canister. The infantry shot, or with the butts of their 
muskets knocked down, every head which appeared 
above the parapet. One rebel reached the summit, and 
planted upon it the Confederate flag. A yell of triumph 
burst from the lips of his comrades. The next moment 
he fell a corpse, and the rebel flag followed him into the 
ditch. Not a rebel entered the fort alive. Hundreds lay 
dead before it. 

A cross-fire now swept the foe and the whole space 
over which they had advanced and by which alone they 
could retreat. Nearly all who entered the ditch were 
killed. Five hundred, finding it impossible to escape 
over an open field swept by our cannon, surrendered. 
The ground between the fort and the rebel line was 
strewn with the dead, more than a thousand having 
fallen in that hour of carnage. General Burnside lost 
but thirteen men. The reason for this great disparity is 
to be attributed, first, to the admirable system of defen- 
sive works constructed by the engineers, Generals 0. M. 
Poe and 0. E. Babcock ; and, secondly, to the genius and 
heroism of Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin, who commanded 
the fort, and who inspired the men with his own spirit in 
conducting the defence. He had less than three hundred 
men and but eleven guns. He was assailed by four 
brigades of Longstreet's corps, besides two of Buckner's 
division, which were held as reserves. 

It was but half an hour after this terrible repulse, when 



206 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Longstreet received a despatch from Jefferson Davis, the 
rebel president, informing him of the entire discomfiture 
of Bragg's army, and directing him to hasten to his sup- 
port. But Longstreet sagaciously decided that the best 
way to help Bragg was to remain where he was. Should 
Grant continue to pursue the fugitive army, in a few days 
more Burnside would be starved out, and his whole army 
of fifteen thousand men would fall into the hands of the 
victor. This would be quite a solace for the loss of 
Chattanooga. On the other hand, should General Grant 
feel constrained to hasten to the relief of Burnside, then 
it would be necessary for him to relinquish the pursuit 
of Bragg, and the fugitive army might escape. 

Sherman was now upon the impetuous advance. Long- 
street was cut off from his supplies, and was compelled 
to subsist off the country already ravaged by the pillage 
and desolations of war. Just then the despatch, which 
Grant had designed for him, fell into his hands. It told 
him that he had not a moment to lose. He therefore 
hurriedly raised the siege, and commenced his march 
towards the north-east, to take refuge with the rebel 
bands in Virginia. On the 5th of December, Sherman 
and Howard reached Marysville, within a day's march of 
Knoxville. Here they received the information that 
Longstreet had raised the siege of Knoxville, and was 
in full retreat towards Virginia. Sherman sent the fol- 
lowing note to Burnside : — 

" I am here, and can bring twenty-five thousand men 
into Knoxville to-morrow. But, Longstreet having re- 
treated, I feel disposed to stop ; for a stern chase is a long 
one. But I will do all that is possible. Without you 
specify that you want troops, I will let mine rest to- 
morrow, and ride to see you." 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 207 

He rode over to Knoxville the next morning, and held 
an interview with General Burnside. It must have been 
a happy hour for both of these illustrious men, sharing 
in the joys of victory as they had alike shared the perils, 
toils, and privations of the conflict. But the great strug- 
gle was not yet terminated. Scarcely an hour could be 
given to repose. The vanquished rebels were still malig- 
nant and determined. Weary months of stern campaign- 
ing were yet before these chieftains ere the blessed hour 
of peace could dawn. 

In this interview, arrangements were made for Gen- 
eral Granger, with his command, to enter Knoxville, and 
garrison the works there. General Burnside was to pur- 
sue Longstreet on his retreat, and annoy him in every 
possible way. Sherman, with the rest of his army, was 
to return to Chattanooga. There was some apprehension 
that Bragg, emboldened by the absence of so large a force 
from the Union army, might turn, and assume the offen- 
sive. Two days after, on the 8th, General Grant received 
from President Lincoln the following despatch : — 

" Understanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga 
and at Knoxville is now secure, I wish to tender you, and 
all under your command, my more than thanks, my pro- 
foundest gratitude, for the skill, courage, and persever- 
ance with which you and they, over so great difficulties, 
have effected that important object. God bless you all ! " 

It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of these 
great achievements. The nation recognized the fact that 
it was to the genius of General Grant that we were in- 
debted for them. The whole of Tennessee was liberated 
from rebel thraldom ; the rebel army, which from the 
heights of Lookout Mountain had been menacing the 
North, was driven, stripped, hungry, and humiliated, 



208 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

into the extreme South ; the rebel line of communication 
between the Atlantic and the Mississippi was hopelessly- 
sundered. The most sanguine could not dream of recov- 
ering that which had been thus lost. The mountain 
fastnesses upon which they had relied as impregnable 
had been captured. The majestic rivers, flowing through 
the heart of the territory, which had been so insolently 
claimed by the Confederacy, were ploughed by our gun- 
boats. The fields upon whose inexhaustible fertility the 
rebels had relied for the support of their armies had now 
become the granaries of the Government. The rebels no 
longer fought animated by hope : their only impulse was 
the inspiration of despair. 

General Grant, on the 10th of December, issued the 
following congratulatory order to his troops : — 

" The general commanding takes the opportunity of 
returning his sincere thanks and congratulations to the 
brave armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Ten- 
nessee, and* their comrades from the Potomac, for the 
recent splendid and decisive successes achieved over the 
enemy. In a short time you have recovered from him 
the control of the Tennessee River, from Bridgeport to 
Knoxville. You dislodged him from his great strong- 
hold upon Lookout Mountain ; drove him from Chatta- 
nooga Valley ; wrested from his determined grasp the 
possession of Missionary Ridge ; repelled, with heavy loss 
to him, his repeated assaults upon Knoxville ; forced him 
to raise the siege there, driving him, at all points utterly 
routed and discomfited, beyond the limits of the State. 

" By your noble heroism and determined courage you 
have most effectually defeated the plans of the enemy 
for regaining possession of the States of Kentucky and 
Tennessee. You have secured positions from which no 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 209 

rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For all this 
the general commanding thanks you collectively and 
individually. The loyal people of the United States 
thank and bless you. Their hopes and prayers against 
this unholy rebellion are with you daily. Their faith 
in you will not be in vain. Their hopes will not be 
blasted. Their prayers to Almighty God will be answered. 
You will yet go to other fields' of strife ; and, with the 
invincible bravery, and unflinching loyalty to justice and 
right, which have characterized you in the past, you will 
prove that no enemy can withstand you, and that no 
defences, however formidable, can check your onward 
march." 

We seldom have a more striking exemplification of the 
power of the mind triumphing over the body, than Gen- 
eral Grant presented during these hours of exhausting 
care and toil. He was then in feeble health, still suffering 
severely from his fail at New Orleans. He was so ema- 
ciated, and walked so feebly, that many feared he would 
never recover. Still, with all this bodily languor and 
suffering, his mind retained its accustomed energies, and 
lie worked as indefatigably as if in the enjoyment of 
vigorous heal th. 

There was an Indian chieftain of the Tonawanda Tribe, 
Colonel Ely S. Parker, who was on General Grant's 
staff. In a communication to " The Indianapolis Jour- 
nal," he gives the following testimony to General Grant's 
personal bearing during these battles : — 

" I need not describe to you the recent battle of Chat- 
tanooga. The papers have given every possible detail 
concerning it. I can only say I saw it all, and was in 
the five days' fight. It has been a matter of universal 
wonder in this army, that General Grant himself was not 

14 



210 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

killed, and that no more accidents occurred to his staff; 
for the general was always in the front, and perfectly 
heedless of the storm of hissing bullets and screaming 
shells flying around him. His apparent want of sensibil- 
ity does not arise from heedlessness, heartlessness, or 
vain military affectation, but from a sense of the respon- 
sibility resting upon him when in battle. 

" When at Ringgold, we rode for half a mile in the 
face of the enemy, under an incessant fire of cannon and 
musketry, — nor did we ride fast, but upon an ordinary 
trot, — and not once, do I believe, did it enter the gener- 
al's mind that he was in danger. I was by his side, and 
watched him closely. In riding that distance we were 
going to the front ; and I could see that he was studying 
the positions of the two armies, and, of course, planning 
how to defeat the enemy, who were here making a most 
desperate stand, and were slaughtering our men fearfully. 
After defeating and driving the enemy here, we returned 
to Chattanooga. 

" Another feature in General Grant's personal move- 
ments is, that he requires no escort beyond his staff, so 
regardless of danger is he. Roads are almost useless to 
him ; for he takes short cuts through fields and woods, 
and will swim his horse through almost any stream which 
obstructs his way. Nor does it make any difference with 
him whether he has daylight for his movements ; for he 
will ride from breakfast until two o'clock in the morning, 
and that, too, without eating. The next day he will repeat 
the dose, until he finishes his work. Now, such things 
come hard upon the staff; but they have learned how to 
bear it." 

Immediately upon the meeting of Congress, soon after 
these events, both houses passed a resolution, " That the 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 211 

thanks of Congress be. and they hereby are, presented to 
Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the 
officers and soldiers who have fought under his command 
during this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct 
in the battles in which they have been engaged ; and that 
the President of the United States be requested to cause 
a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, de- 
vices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Major-General 
Grant." 

This medal, the tribute of a nation's admiration, was 
designed by Leutze. On one side there was a profile 
likeness of General Grant, surrounded by a laurel wreath. 
His name, and the year of his victories, were inscribed 
upon it ; and the whole was surrounded by a galaxy of 
stars. On the opposite side was the figure of Fame, 
gracefully seated on the American Eagle, which, with 
outspread wings, seemed preparing for flight. In her 
right hand she held the symbolical trumpet. With her 
left hand she presented a scroll, on which were inscribed 
the names of Corinth, Yicksburg, Mississippi River, and 
Chattanooga. On her head there was a helmet, orna- 
mented in Indian fashion, with feathers radiating from it. 
In front of the eagle, its breast resting against it, was the 
emblematical shield of the United States ; beneath were 
sprigs of pine and palm twined together, indicative of the 
union of the North and South. Over all,. in a curved 
line, were the words, " Proclaim liberty throughout all 
the land." 

The States of New York and Ohio passed resolutions 
of thanks to General Grant and his army, and ordered 
the resolutions to be engrossed in their official records. ■ 

General Grant was not at all disposed to rest after the 
fatigue of the campaign of Chattanooga. He gathered 



212 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

up his strength to pursue the war with unabated vigor. 
He was still oppressed with innumerable cares. Inclem- 
ent winter had come. The gathering of such large armies 
had exhausted the resources of the country. Our troops 
were very far from their base of supplies. The fall in 
the rivers had rendered them no longer navigable. The 
roads, encumbered with snow and ice, were almost im- 
passable. And yet armies were to be fed and clothed. 
It is a great mistake to suppose that the skill of a general 
is confined to the ability with which he handles his troops 
upon the field of battle. The preliminary cares call for 
the highest exercise of earthly wisdom. 

Many of General Grant's soldiers were without shoes ; 
many had but a single blanket ; the time of service of a 
large number of volunteer troops had expired. In the 
midst of these cares, which seem to have been enough to 
crush the strongest man, General Grant was planning a 
cavalry raid to sweep the State of Mississippi. On the 
23d of December, he wrote to General Halleck, — 

" I am now collecting as large a cavalry force as 
can be spared, at Savannah, Tenn., to cross the Tennessee 
River, and co-operate with the cavalry from Hurlbut's 
command, in clearing out entirely the forces now collect- 
ing in West Tennessee under Forrest. It is the design 
that the cavalry, after finishing the work they first start 
upon, shall' push south through East Mississippi, and 
destroy the Mobile Road as far south as they can. Sher- 
man goes to Memphis and Vicksburg in person, and will 
have Grenada visited, and such other points on the Mis- 
sissippi Central Railroad as may require it. I want the 
State of Mississippi so visited that large armies cannot 
traverse there this winter." 

About three weeks after this, he wrote, " Sherman has 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 213 

gone down the Mississippi to collect at Vicksburg all the 
force that can be spared for a separate movement from 
the Mississippi. He will probably have ready, by the 24th 
of this month, a force of twenty thousand men. I shall 
direct Sherman, therefore, to move out to Meridian with 
his spare force, the cavalry going from Corinth, and 
destroy the roads east and south of there so effectually 
that the enemy will not attempt to rebuild them during 
the rebellion. 

" He will then return, unless opportunity of going into 
Mobile with the force he has appears perfectly plain. 
Owing to a large number of veterans furloughed, I will 
not be able to do more at Chattanooga than to threaten 
an advance, and try to detain the force now in Thomas's 
front. Sherman will be instructed, whilst left with these 
large discretionary powers, to take no extra hazard of 
losing his army, or of getting it crippled too much for 
service in the spring. 

" I look upon the next line for me to secure, to be that 
from Chattanooga to Mobile ; Montgomery and Atlanta 
being the important intermediate points. To do this, 
large supplies must be secured on the Tennessee River, 
so as to be independent of the railroad from here (Nash- 
ville) to the Tennessee, for a considerable length of time. 
Mobile would be a second base. The destruction which 
Sherman will do the roads around Meridian will be of 
material importance to us in preventing the enemy from 
drawing supplies from Mississippi, and in clearing that 
section of all large bodies of rebel troops. I do not look 
upon any points, except Mobile in the south and the 
Tennessee River in the north, as presenting practicable 
starting-points from which to operate against Atlanta and 
Montgomery." 



214 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

General Grant was now directing the complicated 
movements of three armies, extending over a region of 
more than a thousand miles. General Thomas was at 
Chattanooga, threatening Bragg. General Schofield was 
at Knoxville, keeping a close watch upon Longstreet. 
And General Sherman was preparing to advance into 
the interior of Mississippi. All looked to General Grant 
for instructions. 

We have not space to- describe these movements. Sher- 
man's raid into Mississippi was a magnificent campaign. 
He drove the rebels out of the State, and destroyed the 
only remaining railroads. He supported his army upon 
the rebel stores which he captured, and brought back 
with his triumphant columns four hundred prisoners, five 
thousand negroes, a thousand white refugees, and three, 
thousand animals. All this was accomplished in about 
four weeks, during which time he marched nearly four 
hundred miles. His losses were but twenty-one killed 
and a hundred and forty-nine wounded and missing. 

About this time General Grant decided to make a tour 
through the outposts of his army. He visited Nashville, 
remaining only long enough to infuse new energy into the 
construction of railroad communications with Chatta- 
nooga. He then repaired to Knoxville. Being anxious 
to ascertain the condition of the roads between that place 
and Louisville, by the 'way of Cumberland Gap, he resolved 
to examine the route in person. It was midwinter, and 
it was bitterly cold among the mountains. Yet he trav- 
ersed the long route on horseback, encountering the low- 
est temperature and the deepest snow which had been 
experienced there for many years. 

It was indeed a journey of hardship and of peril. The 
officers who accompanied him were compelled often to 



RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 215 

wade through the drifted snow, driving their half-frozen 
horses before them. At Lexington, the now illustrious 
general was received with the most signal demonstra- 
tions of respect and admiration. Crowds from the sur- 
rounding country rushed to get sight of him. They 
thronged him, and clamored for a speech. One of his 
staff, General Leslie Coombs, mounted a chair and 
said, — 

" General Grant has told me, in confidence, that he 
never made a speech, knows nothing about speech-mak- 
ing, and has no disposition to learn." 

The latter part of January he visited St. Louis, to see 
one of his children, who was dangerously sick. Though 
he entered the city in the most unobtrusive way, the in- 
telligence of his arrival spread rapidly, and crowds gath- 
ered around the hotel to see him. He was invited to a 
public dinner. His reply was characteristic : — 

" Your highly complimentary invitation to meet old 
acquaintances, and make new ones, at a dinner to be 
given by citizens of St. Louis, is just received. I will 
state that I have only visited St. Louis on this occasion 
to see a sick child. Finding, however, that he has passed 
the crisis of his disease, and is pronounced out of danger 
by his physicians, I accept the invitation. My stay in 
this city will be short, — probably not beyond the first 
proximo. On to-morrow I shall be engaged. Any other 
day of my stay here, and any place selected by the 
citizens of St. Louis, it will be agreeable for me to meet 
them. 

" I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedi- 
ent servant, " U. S. Grant." 

Over two hundred guests met in the spacious hall at 
the Lindell Hotel, to confer honor upon the distin- 



216 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

guished visitor. The room was richly decorated, and 
General Grant was not a little embarrassed by the atten- 
tions which were lavished upon him. When the toast 
was given, " Our distinguished guest, Major-General 
Grant," the band struck up " Hail to the Chief. " Gen- 
eral Grant arose and said, — 

" Gentlemen, in response it will be impossible for me 
to do more than to thank you." 

In the evening he was serenaded ; and an immense 
crowd surrounded the hotel, anxious to catch a sight of 
the hero, and clamorous for a speech. After some delay, 
General Grant stepped upon the balcony, and taking off 
his hat, in the midst of profoundest silence, said, — 

" Gentlemen, I thank you for this honor. I cannot 
make a speech. It is something I have never done, and 
never intend to do ; and I beg you will excuse me." 

" Speech, speech ! " shouted the multitude. Several 
gentlemen urged the general to say at least a few words. 
One earnest friend, placing his hand upon General Grant's 
shoulder, said, " Tell them you can fight for them, but 
cannot talk for them. Do tell them that." — "I must get 
some one else to say that for me," General Grant replied. 
Then, leaning over the railing, he said, slowly, deliber- 
ately, firmly, — 

" Gentlemen, making speeches is not my business. I 
never did it in my life, and never will. I thank you, 
however, for your attendance here." 

He then bowed and retired. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

NATIONAL HONORS CONFERRED UPON GENERAL GRANT. 

Revival of the Grade of Lieutenant-General. — Speech of Hon. Mr. Farns- 
worth. — Of Hon. Mr. Washburne. — Action of Congress. — General 
Grant Nominated by the President. — His Letter to Sherman. — The 
Reply. — Public Enthusiasm. — Conferring the Commission. — New 
Plans for the Conduct of the War. 

N the 4th of February, 1864, Congress 
passed a bill, which had been carefully 
matured by the military committee of the 
House, reviving in the army of the United 
States the grade of lieutenant-general, 
and authorizing the president to confer that rank on the 
major-general most distinguished for courage, skill, and 
ability. It was universally understood that the bill was 
designed to have the honor conferred upon General Grant. 
The Hon. Mr. Farnsworth, in an address to the House on 
the occasion, said, — 

" We are now near the close of the third year of this 
war ; and while it is true that many generals in the army 
may be up to-day and down to-morrow, and that their 
fortunes fluctuate, it is not true of the general to whom 
this legislation applies. His star has been steadily rising. 
He has been growing greater and greater day by day. 
By his masterly ability he now stands — without saying 
any thing to the disparagement of other generals — head 

217 



218 LIFE OF GENEEAL GRANT. 

and shoulders over every other general in tl e army of 
the United States. He has been tried long enough ; and, 
if his star were to go down to-morrow, he has still done 
enough to entitle him to this prize. " 

Hon. Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, at the same time 
rendered the following tribute to the genius and merits 
of General Grant : — 

" I am not here to speak for General Grant. No man, 
with his consent, has ever mentioned his name in connec- 
tion with any position. I say what I know to be true, 
when I allege that every promotion he has received, since 
he first entered the service to put down this rebellion, 
was moved without his knowledge or consent. And in 
regard to this very matter of lieutenant-general, after 
the bill was introduced, and his name mentioned in con- 
nection therewith, he wrote me that he had been highly 
honored already by the Government, and did not ask or 
deserve any thing more in the shape of honors or promo- 
tion ; and that success over the enemy was what he 
craved above every thing else ; that he only desired to 
hold such an influence over those under his command as 
to use them to the best advantage to secure that end. 

" Look at what this man has done for his country, for 
humanity and civilization, — this modest and unpretend- 
ing general. He has fought more battles, and won more 
victories, than any man living. He has captured more 
prisoners, and taken more guns, than any general of 
modern times. When his blue legions crowned the crest 
of Vicksburg, and the hosts of Rebeldom laid their arms 
at the feet of this great conqueror, the rebel Confederacy 
was cut in twain, and the backbone of the Rebellion was 
broken. 

" And that which must ever be regarded as the most 



HONORS CONFERRED UPON- GEN. GRANT. 219 

extraordinary feature of this campaign is the astounding 
fact, that, when General Grant landed in the State of 
Mississippi, and made his campaign in the enemy's coun- 
try, he had a smaller force than the enemy. To his indom- 
itable courage and energy, to his unparalleled celerity of 
movement, striking the enemy in detail and beating him 
on every field, is the country indebted for those wonderful 
successes of that campaign which have not only challenged 
the gratitude and admiration of our own countrymen, 
but the admiration of the best military men of all 
nations." 

The bill reviving the grade of lieutenant-general 
passed both Houses almost unanimously. President 
Lincoln gave it his signature, and immediately nominated 
General Grant to that office. The Senate promptly 
confirmed the nomination. 

" Grant himself used no influence," says General 
Badeau, " wrote no line, spoke no word, to bring about 
the result. I was with him while the bill was being 
debated, and spoke to him more than once upon the 
subject. He never manifested any anxiety, or even desire, 
for the success of the bill ; nor did he ever seem to shrink 
from the responsibilities it would impose upon him. If 
the country chose to call him to higher spheres and more 
important services, whatever ability or energy he possessed 
he was willing to devote to the task. If, on the contrary, 
he had been left at the post which he then held, he would 
not have felt a pang of disappointed pride." * 

On the 3d of March, he was summoned to Washington 

-by the secretary of war, to receive the credentials, and 

enter upon the duties, of his new office. As he left the 

* Military History of Uylsses S. Grant, by Adam Badeau, vol. i., p. 570. 



220 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

army with the intention of returning immediately to his 
command, he sent the following letter to his friend and 
efficient co-operator, General Sherman : — 

" Dear Sherman, — The bill reviving the grade of 
lieutenant-general has become a law, and my name has 
been sent to the Senate for the place. I now receive 
orders to report to Washington immediately in person, 
which indicates a confirmation, or a likelihood of con- 
firmation. I start in the morning to comply with the 
order. 

" Whilst I have been eminently successful in this war, 
in at least gaining the confidence of the public, no one 
feels more than I how much of this success is due to the 
energy, skill, and the harmonious putting forth of that 
energy and skill, of those whom it has been my good for- 
tune to have occupying subordinate positions under me. 

" There are many officers to whom these remarks are 
applicable to a greater or less degree, proportionate to 
their ability as soldiers ; but what I want is to express 
my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men to wliom, 
above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had 
of success. 

" How far your advice and assistance have been of help 
to me, you know. How far your execution of whatever 
has been given you to do entitles you to the reward I am 
receiving, you cannot know as well as I. 

" I feel all the gratitude this letter would express, giving 
it the most flattering construction. The word you, I use 
in the plural, intending it for McPherson also. I would 
write to him, and will some day; but, starting in the 
morning, I do not know that I will find time just now. 

" Your friend, 

" U. S. Grant." 



HONORS CONFERRED UPON GEN. GRANT. 221 



This letter was forwarded to General Sherman, at 
Memphis. His reply, on the 10th of March, is so noble, 
and so beautifully reflects the friendship existing between 
these illustrious men, that we cannot retrain from giving 
it entire : — 

" Dear General, — I have your more than kind and 
characteristic letter of the 4th instant. I will send a copy 
to General McPherson at once. 

" You do yourself injustice, and us too much honor, 
in assigning to us too large a share of the merits which 
have led to your high advancement. I know you approve 
the friendship I have ever proffered to you, and will 
permit me to continue, as heretofore, to manifest it on all 
proper occasions. 

" You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and 
occupy a position of almost dangerous elevation ; but if 
you can continue, as heretofore, to be yourself, — simple, 
honest, and unpretending, — you will enjoy through life 
the respect and love of friends, and the homage of mil- 
lions of human biings who will award you a large share 
in securing to them and their descendants a government 
of law and stability. 

" I repeat, you do General McPherson and myself too 
much honor. At Belmont, you manifested your traits, 
neither of us being near. At Donelson also, you illus- 
trated your whole character. I was not near, and Gen- 
eral McPherson was in too subordinate a capacity to 
influence you. 

" Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost 
cowed by the terrible array of anarchical elements that 
presented themselves at every point ; but that admitted a 
ray of light I have followed since. I believe you are as 
brave, patriotic, and just as the great prototype, Wash- 



222 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

ington ; as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as a man 
should be ; but the chief characteristic is the simple 
faith in success you have always manifested, which I can 
liken to nothing else than. the faith a Christian has in the 
Saviour. 

" This faith gave you the victory at Shiloh and at 
Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed your best 
preparations, you go into battle without hesitation, as at 
Chattanooga, — no doubts, no reserves ; and, I tell you, 
it was this which made us act with confidence. 

" My only point of doubt was in your knowledge of 
grand strategy, and of books of science and of history ; 
but I confess your common-sense seems to have supplied 
all these. 

" Now, as to the future. Don't stay in Washington. 
Come West : take to yourself the whole Mississippi Val- 
ley. Let us make it dead sure ; and, I tell you, the Atlan- 
tic slopes and Pacific shores will follow its destiny as 
surely as the limbs of a tree live or die with the main 
trunk. We have done much, but still much remains. 
Time, and time's influence, are with us. We could almost 
afford to sit still, and let these influences work. 

" Here lies the seat of the coming empire ; and from the 
West, when our task is done, we will make short work of 
Charleston and Richmond and the impoverished coast 
of the Atlantic. " Your sincere friend, 

" W. T. Sherman." 

In this whole transaction, there seems to have been a 
singular absence of all those petty jealousies and rivalries 
which so often dishonor human nature. On General 
Grant's journey to Washington, he received a despatch, 
very magnanimous in its tone, from General Halleck, 
whom lie was to supersede. It was as follows : — 



HONORS CONFERRED UPON GEN. GRANT. 223 

' The Secretary of War directs me to say that your 
commission as lieutenant-general is signed, and will be 
delivered to you on your arrival at the War Department. 
I sincerely congratulate you on this recognition of your 
distinguished and meritorious services." 

General Grant's journey to Washington was made as 
rapidly as possible, in special trains. His fame now filled 
the land. At every depot, crowds were gathered to catch 
a glimpse of one whose achievements were so illustrious, 
and whose name was on all lips. Wherever he appeared, 
enthusiastic cheers greeted him. Upon his arrival in 
Washington, he quietly repaired to Willard's Hotel, and, 
unobserved, took a seat at a table in the dining-room, 
with his son by his side. A gentleman recognized him, 
and, rising, informed the guests that General Ulysses S. 
Grant sat at the table. Simultaneously, and as by an 
instinctive impulse, all rose ; and cheer upon cheer rang 
through the hall. Many pressed around him to take him 
by the hand ; and the crowd immediately became so great 
that it was with difficulty he could make his way to his 
private apartment. 

In the evening he attended the president's levee at 
the White House. Here the enthusiasm which his 
presence created was very great. He engrossed the 
attention of the whole company. The crowd pressed 
him to an adjacent sofa, and lifted him from his feet, 
until he was compelled to stand where all could see him. 
Such a scene of enthusiasm was never before witnessed 
in the presidential mansion. President Lincoln, mag- 
nanimous, generous, unselfish, whose soul was never 
sullied with a jealous thought, stood by the side of 
Grant, and joined as heartily as any of the company 
with cheer after cheer in tribute to the merits of this 
great and good man. 



224 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Bat these ovations were only painful to General Grant. 
He had no taste for pageantry, and his modest nature 
shrank from these displays of admiration and homage. 
Though by no means insensible to manifestations of 
confidence and affection, he still wished to avoid them. 
Upon retiring that night from the levee, he said to a 
friend, — 

" I hope to get away from Washington as soon as 
possible, for I am tired of the show-business already." 

The next day, March the 9th, was the time appointed 
by President Lincoln for presenting him his commission 
as lieutenant-general. The impressive scene took place 
in the executive chamber, with true republican simplicity. 
All the cabinet were present, and also several other 
distinguished invited guests. President Lincoln rose 
from his chair, and thus addressed him : — 

" General Grant, the nation's approbation of what 
you have already done, and its reliance on you for what 
remains to do in the existing great struggle, is now pre- 
sented, with this commission constituting you Lieutenant- 
General of the Army of the United States. With this 
high honor devolves on you a corresponding responsi- 
bility. As the country here intrusts you, so under God 
it will sustain you. I scarcely need add, that with what I 
here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal 
concurrence." 

General Grant, taking the commission in his hand, 
replied, — 

" Mr. President, I accept this commission with grati- 
tude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of 
the noble armies who have fought on so many fields for 
our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not 
to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight 



of the responsibility now devolving upon me. I know 
that, if it is properly met, it will be due to these armies, 
and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which 
leads both nations and men." 

It is said that the ladies wished to have a ball in con- 
nection with the grand review of the Army of the Poto- 
mac, which was about to take place. 

"Ladies," said the general, fixing his eyes sadly upon 
them, and speaking in a very deliberate and serious tone 
of voice, " this thing must be stopped. I am not a cynic, 
and enjoy rational pleasures as well as any one else ; 
but I would ask you, in all candor and gentleness, if this 
is a time for music and dancing and feasting among 
officers in the army ? Is our country in a condition to 
call for such things at present ? Do army balls inspire 
our troops with courage in the field ? Do they soothe 
our sick and wounded in the hospitals ? " 

These ladies were truly patriotic ; and it is but just to 
them to record that they instantly recognized the pro- 
priety of General Grant's views, and gave to them their 
cordial acquiescence. 

All the energies of General Grant were now roused to 
bring the war as speedily as possible to a triumphant 
close. A council of war was held at the seat of govern- 
ment. Here General Grant was the first to propose that 
it was essential to the defeat of the Rebellion that Rich- 
mond, its nominal capital, should be taken, that the 
whole power of our scattered armies should be concen- 
trated for the accomplishment of that decisive end. The 
plan was his in its conception : the means for its attain- 
ment were all arranged by his mind. Orders were at 
once despatched for the assembling of all the divisions of 
the army, which could possibly be spared from other mi- 
is 



220 LIFE OF GENERAL GEANT. 

gagenents, to march upon Richmond. The continent 
seemed to shake beneath the tramp of these military 
hosts. Our steamers were loaded, our railroad trains 
were freighted, and all our great roads were thronged, 
with "the gathering bands of war. 

General Grant was so unassuming in his deportment, 
so simple and unostentatious in his movements, that lie 
seldom excited an emotion of jealousy. Nearly all his 
subordinate officers had so much confidence in his justice, 
his disinterestedness, and his ability, that they co-oper- 
ated harmoniously in carrying out his plans. One mind 
inspired the nation. Not often in the history of the 
world has any individual been invested with so much 
power. General Grant immediately took the field. He 
established his humble headquarters at Culpeper Court- 
house, in the Old Dominion, not far from Washington ; 
and his orders flew along the wires, all over our broad 
land, with lightning rapidity. Prodigious were the in- 
terests which he was compelled to grasp, and the combi- 
nations he was called upon to perform. 




CE^f TRAL x 

VIRGINIA. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE BATTLES OP THE WILDERNESS. 

The Plan of the Campaigns. — Crossing the Rapidan. — The First Day's 
Battle. — Picturesque Spectacle. — The Second Day's Battle. — The 
Third Day's Battle. —Peculiarity of the Conflict. — Terrible Lossss. — 
Battle of Spottsylvania Court-house. — Defeat of the Rebels. — Death 
of Wadsworth and Sedgwick. — Anecdotes of General Grant. 

ENERAL Lee was at this time strongly in- 
trenched, with a force of about a hundred 
thousand men, upon the south banks of 
the Rapidan River. He was there, with a 
well-disciplined army, protecting Richmond, 
and seriously threatening Washington and the neighbor- 
ing northern cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore. The 
general plan of operations, as adopted by General Grant, 
consisted in reality of a series of campaigns, decisive and 
terrible, which were successfully carried out, and which 
terminated the war in an overwhelming and irreparable 
defeat to the rebels. Washington was to be covered, 
from any rebel raid through the Valley of the Shenan- 
doah, by an adequate force under General Sigel, who had 
acquired a high reputation at Pea Ridge and in other 
battles in the West. Another large force, of both white 
and colored troops, under General Butler, after making 
a feint to attack Richmond by the way of the York River 

227 




228 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

and the Chickaliominy, was suddenly to return in trans- 
ports, descending the York River, rounding the point at 
Fortress Monroe, and ascending the James River, to land 
as near City Point as possible ; thus menacing Rich- 
mond from the south and east. 

This movement was sure to accomplish one of two re- 
sults. Should the rebels detach a large force from 
Richmond to re-enforce Lee upon the Rapidan, where 
General Grant was menacing him with the rapidly-in- 
creasing Army of the Potomac, then General Butler 
would move promptly upon the rebel capital. On the 
other hand, should the rebels draw re-enforcements from 
Lee's army to concentrate an overwhelming force at 
Richmond to crush General Butler, then General Butler 
was to intrench himself in the best position he could 
select, and hold that army before him, so that Lee's 
army, upon the Rapidan, would be exposed to the force 
General Grant was gathering to overwhelm it. 

In the mean time General Sherman, from Chattanooga, 
was to press with all vigor upon the rebel army which 
had fled into Georgia, so that no re-enforcements could 
be sent from there to the aid of Lee at Richmond. Such 
was the origin of that magnificent campaign, so heroic- 
ally achieved by General Sherman in his march from 
Chattanooga to Savannah. Having cut the Rebellion in 
two, having destroyed its southern armies and its re- 
sources, General Sherman was to sweep northward with 
his triumphant host, capturing Charleston, Columbia, 
Wilmington, and all the other important rebel positions 
by the way, till his banners should again be united with 
those of General Grant around the walls of Richmond. 
Never was there a more bold and grand campaign con- 
ceived. Never was there one more heroically executed. 



BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 229 

General Meade was at this time in command of the 
Army of the Potomac. He was one of our most able 
and reliable generals, and had about a hundred thou- 
sand troops encamped and intrenched among the hills 
north of the Rapidan. The plan of the campaign was 
not made public, and was revealed only as developed by 
events. But it could not be concealed from the nation 
that a vast accumulation of troops was being made in 
the vicinity of the Rapidan, evidently for a march upon 
Richmond. General Burnside was accumulating a co- 
operating force at Annapolis, to advance by Acquia Creek, 
and unite with General Meade. General Grant estab- 
lished his headquarters with General Meade, that he 
might more efficiently aid in the one great object of 
crushing Lee's army. 

The gathering storm was anxiously watched by the 
rebels, and every soldier whom they could spare from 
other posts was summoned to Virginia to meet it. 
Longstreet hurried up from his winter's encampment 
near Knoxville. Beauregard almost stripped the intrench- 
ments of Charleston, and hastened with his troops to 
Richmond. Even from the remote banks of the Missis- 
sippi and the everglades of Florida, the hosts of Rebellion 
gathered for the battle. 

On the 3d of May, General Meade's army, General 
Grant being present and in supreme command, silently 
approached the Rapidan, and at midnight, unseen and 
unopposed, crossed the stream, at fords and by pontoon 
bridges, a few miles below the intrenchments of the rebels. 
They then moved rapidly forward towards Chancellors- 
ville, through a wild, rugged region of forest and under- 
brush, appropiately called the Wilderness. It was a 
brilliant day. The army was strong, well-fed, in its best 



230 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

attire, and in the best of spirits. All the day long the 
troops continued their unopposed march, — infantry, ar- 
tillery, and cavalry, — by a flank movement threatening 
the rear of the foe. At night they encamped in a region 
of wonderfully picturesque beauty. Their camp-fires, 
blazing along the hill-sides and in the ravines, and illum- 
ining the forest, over a region eight miles in length, pre- 
sented one of the most imposing scenes in the pageantry 
of war. 

Early the next morning, Thursday the 5th, the march 
was resumed. The immense host, numbering nearly 
a hundred and fifty thousand men, advanced in three 
columns. General Warren was on the right, General 
Hancock occupied the centre, and General Sheridan, 
with his cavalry, covered the left. By this flank move- 
ment, General Grant compelled the rebels to abandon 
their strong intrenchments, upon which they had ex- 
pended the labor of so many months, and either to attack 
him in the open field, or to fall back towards Richmond, 
and occupy new lines of intrenchments. 

The army had not moved far this day ere there were 
decisive indications that the enemy had moved from his 
works, and was advancing, with his whole force, from the 
west, with the evident design of cutting through our line 
of march. General Grant selected some ridges upon 
which he posted his troops, and, throwing up hurried 
earthworks, awaited the onset. The line of battle, thus 
formed in the heart of the Wilderness, extended about 
five miles over the hills, and through forests and ravines. 
The rebels, concealed in the forest, could mass their forces, 
and fall with concentrated strength upon any portion 
of our extended line which they might think the 
weakest. Thus they could easily, at the point of attack, 
outnumber us three or four to one. 



BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 231 

At noon ';he battle commenced. General Lee was an 
able commander. His soldiers were desperately brave. 
With a strong column he plunged, like an ancient bat- 
tering-ram, upon our line. The Union troops slowly 
yielded before the tremendous assault, and their line 
swayed back. But re-enforcements were speedily sent 
to the menaced spot ; and the line was straightened, and 
the rebels were driven out of sight into the depths of 
the forest. The routed foe massed another column, and 
selected another point of attack. About three o'clock 
they charged with desperation, which could not be sur- 
passed, upon our left centre. It was the surge dashing 
against the rock. A mass of twenty thousand rebels, 
with a determination of courage which elicited the 
admiration of their foes, hurled themselves upon a por- 
tion of the Union line not more than half a mile in 
length. Tiie battle was terrific ; and it raged long and 
bloodily, with re-enforcements rapidly gathered on each 
side. But again the rebels were completely foiled and 
driven back. The conflict was dreadful, brother against 
brother ; and the field was covered with the wounded 
and the dead. Six thousand on the two sides were 
struck down by the missiles of war, — a number equal 
to the whole mature male population of a city of thirty 
thousand inhabitants. 

The night was mild, but dark. The dead were buried. 
The wounded, torn and bleeding, were borne to the tem- 
porary hospitals in the rear. All the night long the 
surgeons were busy with knife and saw. The exhausted 
soldiers indulged in a few hours of sleep, dreaming of 
distant homes which many of them were never again to 
see, while the generals were preparing to renew the strife 
upon the morrow. 



232 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

But how different the cause which animated the hostile 
armies ! General Lee wished to destroy the government 
of the United States, and upon its ruins to construct 
another government, which, trampling upon all the prin- 
ciples of democratic justice, should make the poor the 
slaves of the rich. General Grant wished to defend 
those republican institutions transmitted to us by our 
fathers, and to save the national flag from degradation 
and our country from ruin. There can be no question, 
in such a cause as this, upon which side the sympathies 
of Heaven were enlisted. 

Another beautiful May morning dawned upon this sad 
world, which might be so happy, but which man's in- 
humanity to man has converted into a field of blood. 

Scarcely had the sun arisen above the unclouded 
horizon ere a hundred thousand rebels were again on 
the move. Instantly the roar of battle ran along the 
lines. Assault after assault was made by the rebels, now 
upon this point and now upon that ; but each was un- 
availing. Though the Union line at times bent before 
the storm and swayed to and fro, and the ravines and 
hill-sides were crimsoned with blood and strewed with the 
dead, the stars and stripes gradually advanced upon 
the infuriated foe. General Hancock drove a portion 
of the rebels more than two miles before him. On this 
day the noble General Wads worth fell, and the whole 
nation mourned his loss. A bullet struck him on the 
head, and he dropped senseless, mortally wounded. 
There are few names which can stand so high upon the 
American roll of honor as that of James S. Wadsworth. 
Accursed be that Rebellion which has thus robbed our 
nation of so many of the noblest of her sons ! 

It was a day of terror and of blood. The rebels were 



BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 233 

perfectly familiar with the country, and in the dense 
forest they could mass their troops unseen to strike our 
line at any point they chose. The 'broken nature of the 
country was such that it was scarcely possible to bring 
artillery into action. Thus eight or ten thousand of the 
rebel infantry could easily emerge from the forest, rush- 
ing upon two or three thousand of the Union troops. All 
the day long the battle raged until darkness came. Our 
loss in killed, wounded, and missing was estimated at 
over ten thousand men. The rebel loss probably was not 
less. What imagination can gauge the dimensions of 
such a woe ! The wail of agony or the cry of death 
which rose from that bloody field was re-echoed and in- 
tensified in twenty thousand distant homes. 

The battle closed on a disputed field. The equally 
unyielding antagonists threw themselves down at night, 
almost side by side, each on the ground upon which he 
had fought during the day. Still the victory was decidedly 
with the Union troops. The rebels had endeavored to 
pierce our lines, and had signally failed. We had en- 
deavored to resist their attempts, and had signally 
triumphed. Anticipating a renewal of the attack in the 
morning, our lines were strengthened during the night, 
and batteries were planted to protect important points. 
The gullies, ravines, and tangled underbrush of the 
forest, rendered it easy for either army to conceal its 
movements from the other. 

It was not until nearly noon of the next day that it 
was ascertained that General Lee was on the full retreat, 
with his whole army, in the direction of Spottsylvania 
Court-house. He had left a strong line of skirmishers 
to conceal this movement. A vigorous pursuit was im- 
mediately commenced. As the two armies were pressing 



234 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

along in nearly parallel lines, the march became really 
a race, each eager first to reach the goal, which was a 
position of much strategic importance. The rebels, 
having the start by several hours, gained the point. But, 
during the day, divisions of the two antagonistic hosts, 
crowding along all the roads which could be found, were 
occasionally brought into contact, and fierce battles en- 
sued. It was late in the hours of Saturday night when 
the two armies found repose in the spots which they had 
severally selected. 

The three days' battle of the Wilderness, as it has been 
called, was now closed. It was one of the strangest 
battles which ever occurred. Hostile forces, amounting 
in the aggregate to nearly three hundred thousand men, 
fought almost incessantly for three days ; and yet, buried 
in the glooms of the forest, they were scarcely visible to 
each other. Each army had about two hundred and fifty 
pieces of artillery, but the nature of the ground was 
such that they could scarcely be brought into action at 
all. Never before was there a battle of such magnitude 
fought in the midst of the ravines, gullies, and under- 
brush of an almost impenetrable forest. 

General Grant had accomplished his purpose in out- 
flanking the enemy, in compelling him to withdraw from 
his strong intrenchments, and to retreat, from his menace 
of Washington and the North, to the protection of Rich- 
mond. General Lee had utterly failed in his attempts to 
arrest our march, or to break our lines. He had, however, 
caused more than twenty thousand men, on the two sides, 
to fall, either dead or wounded, upon those hard-fcught 
fields. 

By the dawn of Sunday morning, our troops were 
drawn up in battle array about two miles north of Spott- 



BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 236 

sylvan ia Court-house. They had marched fifteen miles 
since Saturday noon. The rebels had taken possession 
of intrenchments previously prepared, and were every 
moment adding to the strength of these earthworks. 
General Grant commenced a furious onset upon them, 
that they might have no time to add to their defences, 
and to recover from the confusion of their retreat. 

All the day long the roar of battle continued, until 
darkness enveloped the scene. Both parties fought with 
equal desperation. The Union soldiers, however, though 
with very severe loss, drove the rebels out of their first 
line of intrenchments, and took twenty-five hundred 
prisoners. 

Another night came ; and again these panting, bleed- 
ing armies threw themselves upon the ground, for such 
repose as could be found amidst the dying and the 
dead. Both parties were in the extreme of exhaustion. 
For five days and nights they had been almost incessantly 
engaged in fighting or marching. But General Grant, 
the tireless leader of the patriot host, allowed his guilty 
foe no repose. 

With the early light he opened upon the rebels a 
harassing fire from his batteries, while his skirmishers 
and sharpshooters annoyed them at every available 
point. But another victim who had attained to national 
fame died the death of a martyr in a holy cause on 
that sad day. General John Sedgwick was instantly 
killed, — the bullet of a sharpshooter passing directly 
through his brain. The loss of this distinguished man, 
whose noble characteristics won all hearts, was regarded 
as a national calamity. 

Another night came ; and for a few hours the storm of 
battle ceased, and the weary combatants slept. Tuesday 



236 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

morning, the 10th of May, dawned, usheri: g in such a 
scene of blood and woe as even this war-icathed, sin- 
blighted world has seldom seen. The rebels were still in 
their strong intrenchments at Spottsylvania. The patriot 
line bent around them in a circuit of about six miles in 
extent. There were here clearings of the forest and culti- 
vated fields, affording ample range for artillery. Early in 
the morning, on both sides, the cannonade commenced, and 
the ear was deafened with the roar of five hundred guns. 
Hour after hour the battle waxed hotter. There were 
charges and counter-charges, the onward rush of the vic- 
tors, the wild flight of the routed ; and the vast field was 
swept again and again with the surging billows of war. 

As the day was drawing towards its close, General 
Grant prepared for a simultaneous assault upon the rebel 
works by nearly his entire line. Calm, firm, determined, 
the patriot leader stood upon an eminence from which he 
could witness nearly the whole of the terrific strife. 
Twelve guns, fired in signal, put the mass in motion. 
They advanced with such cheers as patriots give. In- 
stantly there came back a corresponding, defiant yell 
from the rebel lines. We say a yell ; for it was ever re- 
marked that the battle-cry of the rebel was like the yell of 
the Indian, and not like the cheer of the civilized man. 

The rebels were driven from their position ; and our 
advancing columns swept resistlessly on, taking posses- 
sion of their first line of intrenchments, and capturing 
two thousand prisoners/ But the twilight was now fad- 
ing into darkness ; and, under cover of that darkness, the 
rebels sought shelter in another line of intrenchmeits in 
their rear. Ten thousand killed and wounded, oe each 
si ie, were the victims of this day of blood. 

In one of the lulls of the battle during the day, a 



BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 237 

general order was read to the arcny, announcing the 
magnificent successes which General Sherman was 
achieving in his campaign in Georgia, and also the suc- 
cessful landing of General Butler's troops far up the 
James River, in the vicinity of Richmond. These tidings, 
so inspiriting, roused the army to the wildest excitement 
and enthusiasm, and gave a resistless impulse to their 
charge. 

There were few who had confidence in the plan of 
General Grant's campaign of Vicksburg, until success 
had demonstrated its wisdom. So, in this march upon 
Richmond, there were many obvious perils which military 
critics pointed out, but which General Grant had maturely 
considered ; and the result proved that he did not err in 
the decision to which his sagacity led him. It is said 
that a gentleman called upon him one morning, and 
found him in his tent talking to one of his staff-officers. 
" General," said the stranger, " if you flank Lee, and 
get between him and Richmond, will you not uncover 
Washington, and leave it exposed to the enemy?" — "Yes: 
I reckon so," was General Grant's taciturn and quiet 
reply. " Do you not think, general," the stranger con- 
tinued, " that Lee can detach sufficient force to re-enforce 
Beauregard at Richmond, and overwhelm Butler ? " — "I 
have not a doubt of it," Grant replied. " And is there 
not danger," the stranger added, " that Johnston may 
come up, and re-enforce Lee ; so that the latter will swing 
round, and cut off your communications, and seize your 
supplies ? " — " Very likely," was the unconcerned re- 
sponse. General Grant had weighed all these possibili- 
ties, and his sagacity had taught him that the enemy 
would not venture to attempt any one of them. He had 
also decided just what to do, in case either of these 
movements should be attempted by the foe. 



23% LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Indeed, the general seems to have conceived the 
plan of this campaign while in front of Yicksburg. 
While conversing with several officers on the subject of 
the capture of Richmond, the question was asked, " Can 
it be taken ? " — " With ease," General Grant replied. 
" By the Peninsula ? " the inquirer asked. " No," said 
the general. " If I had charge of the matter, I should 
want two large armies, — one to move directly on Lee ; 
and the other to land at City Point, and cut communica- 
tions to the southward. Lee would be then compelled 
to fall back ; and the army from the north could press, 
and, if possible, defeat him. 

" If he would open up communications again with the 
Cotton States, he must fight the army south of the James ; 
and, to do this, he must cross his whole force, — otherwise 
he would be defeated in detail. If he did so cross, the 
northern army could take Richmond. If he did not, 
that from the south could move up to the heights south 
of the James, and shell and destroy the city." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE MARCH FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. 

Scenes on the Battle-field. — General Hancock's Midnight Charge. — Tb« 
Battle of Spottsylvania. — The Retreat of the Foe. — Grant's Con- 
gratulatory Order. — The Mud Blockade. — Advance to Guinea's Sta- 
tion. — The Race for Richmond. — The Pageantry of War. — Magni- 
tude of the Army. — Advance to the North Anna. — Positions of the 
Two Armies. — Secret March to the Pamunkey. — New Base of 
Supplies. 

HROUGH all the long hours of the night 
which succeeded this day of blood, groans 
of anguish, and occasionally shrill cries of 
torture, could be heard from the field where, 
during the battle, twenty thousand men 
had been struck down, wounded or dead. The next day 
there was active skirmishing, but no general engagement. 
The rebels, now acting only on the defensive, were busy 
in throwing up intrenchments to protect themselves from 
our impetuous charges. To prevent this operation, Gen- 
eral Grant kept up a continual shelling of their lines. 
The unburied dead, and the sufferings of the wounded, 
made so strong an appeal to every heavt, that neither 
army felt disposed to neglect that appeal for the renewal 
of the battle. 

No one can imagine, without having witnessed the 
spectacle, what it is to see twenty thousand men struck 

289 




240 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

down by the missiles of war in every conceivable form 
of mutilation. The temporary hospitals were all crowded. 
Thousands were waiting — their life-blood oozing away — 
for their turn to come to be placed beneath the knife of 
the surgeons. Prayers, sighs, groans, resounded on all 
sides. Piles of amputated limbs rose by the side of the 
surgeons' tents. In the terrible excitement of battle, one 
is unmindful of the carnage. But, after the battle, every- 
one is appalled by the contemplation of that unmitigated 
misery, for which there can be no earthly recompense. 
Thus passed this dreadful day. While the surgeons were 
plying the knife and the saw, and the burying parties 
were heaping the turf over the dead, shells were scream- 
ing through the air, and the thunders of hostile batteries 
shook the hills. 

At night a tempest of thunder, lightning, and drench- 
ing rain swept the camp. In the midst of the darkness 
and the storm, General Hancock made an impetuous 
assault upon one division of the foe, took them completely 
by surprise, and, wresting from them seven thousand 
prisoners and thirty-two guns, drove the remnant wildly 
before him. His movement was like the sudden burst- 
ing of the tornado at midnight. As the victors rushed 
over the first line of rifle-pits, and upon the second, the 
rebels rallied with re-enforcements, and charged furi- 
ously. Again and again the foe dashed forward, only to 
be hurled back with prodigious slaughter. Gradually the 
whole force of both armies was brought into the conflict. 

The sun rose, — noon came, — evening came ; and still 
there was no intermission of the fight. Bayonets were 
interlocked : rebel and patriot grappled in death throes. 
There were actual heaps of the dead, friend and foe, rider 
and horse, " in one red burial blent." After fourteen 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. *J4l 

hours of a struggle, perhaps as desperate as earth lias 
ever witnessed, night mercifully came to separate the 
exhausted combatants. Again the appalling number of 
ten thousand men on each side had fallen, in killed and 
wounded, — twenty thousand in all. Both armies, at 
this rate, would soon have been consumed, were it not 
that each was constantly receiving strong re-enforce- 
ments. Thus the ranks were still kept full, notwith- 
standing the awful slaughter. 

But in this day's terrible conflict, as in every other 
battle of this wonderful campaign, the Union army was 
slowly yet surely gaining its end. General Grant's right 
was pushed forward a full mile over the left centre of 
the foe. General Burnside had also, upon our left, driven 
the enemy before him. And General Hancock had 
gained an angle of the enemy's works which he held, 
notwithstanding the most desperate endeavors of the foe 
to dislodge him. General Lee was greatly chagrined at 
this discomfiture. He made five desperate but unavail- 
ing charges to drive the patriots back. Two or three 
times also, through the ensuing night, he renewed the 
struggle to save some guns, from which our troops had 
driven the gunners, but which we had not been able to 
draw from the field, in consequence of the fire of the 
rebel sharpshooters. 

With the earliest dawn of Friday morning our skir- 
mishers were pushed forward ; and behold ! the foe again 
had fled. Their dead — ghastly monuments of their defeat 
— were left unburied. It was a gloomy morning of clouds 
and rain. A wailing gale swept the tree-tops, — nature's 
sympathetic moan with human woe. The rebels had 
retreated to occupy a new line of defence several miles in 
their rear. Our troops took possession of the abandoned 

16 



242 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

field. Some were employed in burying the dead, others 
in searching for the wounded. Reconnoitring parties 
were sent out to ascertain the route of the enemy, and 
the new position which he had taken. Several sharp 
skirmishes took place between these parties and the rear- 
guard of the foe. A few of the wearied soldiers had an 
opportunity to take a little of that repose which they all 
so greatly needed. In the afternoon of this day General 
Meade issued the following congratulatory order to the 
army : — 

" For eight days and nights, almost without intermis- 
sion, in rain and sunshine, you have been gallantly fight- 
ing a desperate foe, in positions naturally strong, and 
rendered doubly so by intrenchments. You have com- 
pelled him to abandon his fortifications on the Rapidan, 
to retire, and attempt to stop your onward progress ; and 
now he has abandoned the last intrenched position, so 
tenaciously held, suffering in all a loss of eighteen 
guns, twenty-two colors, and eight thousand prisoners, 
including two general officers." 

Another night came, dark and stormy. The roads, 
saturated with water, and ploughed with the artillery and 
baggage-wagons of the retreating foe, had become quag- 
mires. All the night long, through darkness, mud, and 
drenching rain, the right wing of the Union army pressed 
forward secretly to gain new vantage-ground. The 
troops reached the position they sought with the early 
dawn. Their lines were strongly posted upon a series of 
ridges, running north-west and south-east, but about two 
miles beyond Spottsylvania Court-house. 

The rebels were before them, protected by intrench- 
ments, which, months before, they had prepared as a place 
of retreat. The Union soldiers — iron men as they were 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. 243 

in nerve and will — were so exhausted by their midnight 
march that they could not then move upon the enemy's 
works. It was Sunday, — the twelfth day of the cam- 
paign. Neither party was in a condition to renew the bat- 
tle. Both parties vigorously plied the spade ; and there was 
an occasional skirmish, as the troops on either side were 
concentrated, and took positions in preparation for the 
conflict which it was inevitable must soon again ensue. 

Monday and Tuesday came and went. General Grant 
sent a despatch to Washington, stating that the condition 
of the roads rendered any immediate movement of the 
troops impracticable, but that his army was in the best of 
spirits, and sanguine of success. A bright warm sun and 
a strong breeze rapidly improved the roads. Reconnoi- 
tring parties were sent to ascertain the position of the 
enemy. The army had now been refreshed by two days 
of comparative rest, and new supplies had been brought 
up of food and military stores. 

General Grant ever sought to avoid a direct attack 
upon the breastworks of the rebels, and endeavored, by 
flank movements, to compel the enemy to evacuate his 
intrenchments. Thus far he had been eminently success- 
ful in this. Every flank movement had as yet been made 
upon the left of our line of march. He now decided to 
surprise the foe by a sudden and vigorous attach upon his 
left, which General Lee had gradually weakened. 

Under cover of the night of Tuesday, General Grant 
prepared his columns for this movement. With the 
first dawn of Wednesday morning the cannonade com- 
menced, and soon the roar of another pitched battle 
echoed over the hills. The Union troops, in their charge, 
pressed resistlessly on till they came to a long line of 
rifle-pits filled with sharpshooters, and protected by an 



244 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

almost impenetrable abatis. In the rear of these rifle- 
pits, upon a gentle eminence, there was a formidable 
array of batteries. It was evident that any farther 
advance would result in fearful carnage. The troops 
therefore were withdrawn. By eleven o'clock the battle 
was terminated. In that short, fierce storm of war our 
loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to twelve hundred. 
As the rebels did not venture from behind their intrench- 
ments, their loss was probably much less. 

For the remainder of the day the two armies vigilantly 
watched each other. As soon as night came, General 
Grant sent a cavalry force, under General Torbert, to 
Guinea's Station, on the Richmond and Fredericksburg 
Railroad, a distance of about ten miles in a south-east 
direction. He thus seized a considerable amount of 
rebel property on the road, and gained a position in their 
rear. In the morning the remainder of the army was on 
the vigorous move for that point. Thoughtful* men, who 
watched these movements, were very anxious for our 
army, lest the foe should make a sudden sweep upon our 
rear, and cut off our supply trains. But General Grant 
had provided for every emergence. He had made ar- 
rangements for a continual change of his base of supplies 
as he advanced ; and, until that change was effected, his 
line was carefully guarded. 

The rebels were now nearly ten miles in our rear. 
They were hungry and destitute, and made a desperate 
attack upon our long line of supply-wagons advancing 
from Fredericksburg. But they met with an unexpected 
reception, which speedily drove them back to the forest 
from which they had stealthily emerged. Still the brief 
battle was so hotly contested that, on the two sides, twenty- 
four hundred men were either killed or wounded. Gen- 



FKOM SrOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. 245 

eral Lee, finding that we were gaining positions in his 
rear which not only threatened his line of communica- 
tions, but even his escape to the intrenchments of Rich- 
mond, thus rendering the capture of the city certain, 
hastily abandoned the strong works he was then occupy- 
ing, and fled to seek another line of defence on the North 
Anna River. 

As Lee attempted this movement, the ever-watchful 
eye of Grant was upon him ; and a division was sent 
out, through the concealment of the forest, which suddenly 
plunged upon the rear of the enemy's retreating column, 
and captured four hundred prisoners. The rebels, as 
ever, fought desperately. They were, however, driven 
two miles across the Ny, leaving the path, over which they 
sullenly retired, strewn with their dead and wounded. 

The next day was Friday. The country was rough, 
hilly, and heavily wooded. It was difficult for either 
army to ascertain the movements of the other. It was 
easy to conceal operations in the midst of forests and 
ravines, while clouds of skirmishers were pushed out to 
prevent observation. Still the one great fact was ever 
obvious, that it was Grant's object to get to Richmond as 
soon as possible, and that it was Lee's all-engrossing 
endeavour to arrest his march. They were both able 
generals. It was therefore not very difficult for each to 
decide, though in the dark, pretty nearly what the other 
would do. 

On Friday the 20th, the armies scarcely caught sight of 
each other ; yet both were actively on the march. General 
Grant was pushing rapidly on directly south, towards 
Richmond. Lee was a few miles west of him, on the race 
to get to some river's bank, or some line of natural or 
artificial intrenchments, where another stand of resistance 



216 LIFE OF GENEEAL GRANT. 

could be made. It was not a little amusing to read in 
the rebel journals these operations described as " Lee 
chasing Grant." During Friday night, General Torbert, 
with his division of cavalry, reached Bowling Green, 
fifteen miles south-east of Spottsylvania Court-house. He 
encountered several divisions of the enemy, but dispersed 
them without difficulty. The main body of the army 
reached the same point on Saturday evening, having 
marched that day thirty-two miles. Even war has its 
days of pageantry and mirth, as well as its scenes of 
exhaustion, blood, and woe. 

The march of the army on Saturday was picturesque 
and beautiful. It was one of the loveliest days of spring, 
with a cloudless sky, a bright sun, and an invigorating 
breeze. The roads were dry and in perfect condition. 
The scenery was enchanting, with its clear streams, its 
green meadows, its hills, its groves, its luxuriance, and 
bloom. The air was filled with bird-songs, and fragrance 
floated upon the breeze. An army of a hundred and 
fifty thousand men, with their banners, their gleaming 
weapons, their plumed horsemen, their artillery, their 
wagons, crowded the roads winding over the hills and 
through the valleys. 

But few persons are aware of the magnitude of such an 
army. General Grant's vast host — infantry, artillery, 
cavalry, and baggage-train — would fill, in a continuous 
line of march, any one road to its utmost capacity for a 
distance of nearly a hundred miles. In this march the 
immense army crowded the whole region over a breadth 
of from ten to fifteen miles. All the public roads and 
cross-roads and wood-paths were traversed. One mind 
presided supreme over these operations, as day after day 
and night after night, through darkness, through forests, 



FROM SFOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. 247 

through morasses, over streams and rivers, storming in- 
trenchments, and fighting their way against a determined 
foe of a hundred thousand men, the Union troops pressed 
resistlessly on. 

The next day was Sunday, and the march was contin- 
ued. It was deemed quite important to cross the Matta- 
pony River before the rebels should plant their batteries 
upon its southern banks. General Lee was continually 
watching his opportunity to strike General Grant by a 
flank attack on his long line of march. But the foresight 
of General Grant, and the heroism of his officers and 
soldiers, averted every danger. The foe made several 
attacks during the day, but in all he was repulsed. 

Our troops were now within forty miles of Richmond. 
In the race for the rebel metropolis, there was no time to 
be lost. With the early dawn of Monday morning the 
21st, General Grant's troops were again upon the march. 
By night they reached the North Anna River. Here the 
rebels had gathered in strength to dispute the passage. 
They were strongly intrenched upon some commanding 
positions north of the stream. General Hancock led the 
advance. He opened upon the foe with a furious can- 
nonade, and followed it up by a charge. The rebels were 
driven from their intrenchments and across the stream, 
and were closely followed by our troops. The remainder 
of our army soon came up, and encamped that night on 
both sides of the river. 

Tuesday morning, the whole army crossed at several 
points, sweeping away all resistance. The North Anna 
was a rapid stream, its southern banks being precipitous, 
and, fringed with forest and underbrush. Our troops 
were in the heart of Virginia, but little more than a 
day's march from the capital. 



248 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

The rebels could send forces from all points to oppose 
our progress. The passage of the North Anna cost 
General Grant the loss of a thousand men in killed and 
wounded. 

On Wednesday the 25th, our whole army was in a 
strong position on the south side of the river. General 
Grant had also changed his base of supplies to Port 
Royal, on the Rappahannock, about thirty miles below 
Fredericksburg. This point could be reached by trans- 
ports. Here our line had a front about four miles in 
extent, facing west. General Lee was but a few miles 
from us, and nearly opposite, on a parallel line facing east. 
A reconnoissance sent out by General Grant showed that 
Lee was so strongly intrenched that his works could not 
be carried without much carnage. He therefore, under 
cover of a strong demonstration against the foe, rapidly 
recrossed the river, and marched down its north-eastern 
banks to the Pamunkey, — which is formed by the junc- 
tion of the North and South Anna. 

A large body of skirmishers kept the enemy busy, so 
as to prevent him from obtaining any possible knowledge 
of this movement. General Hancock protected our rear. 
All the night of Thursday the march was continued ; and 
at nine o'clock Friday morning General Grant took 
possession of Hanover Ferry, on the Pamunkey River, 
within sixteen miles of Richmond. Again he changed 
his base of supplies, and the transports brought an abun- 
dance of all things needed up the Pamunkey to the 
White House. He thus had a short line for his baggage- 
trains of only a few miles, perfectly protected. 

The military ability displayed in this march from the 
Rapidan was of the highest order. All the efforts of an 
army of a hundred thousand men under General Lee, 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE PAMUNKEY. 249 

and of nearly an equal number in Richmond, to oppose 
his advance, were baffled. By a series of flank move- 
ments, the elaborate intrenchments of the foe were ren- 
dered of no avail. The successive changes in General 
Grant's base of supplies rendered his lines of communi- 
cation so secure, that, notwithstanding the almost frantic 
endeavors of General Lee, Grant scarcely lost a wagon. 
So admirably was every arrangement made, and all possi- 
ble emergencies provided for, that scarcely had our troops 
taken position at Hanover ere supplies were arriving at 
the White House. 

During all this time, General Grant had no fault to find, 
no complaints to make, no quarrels with either superiors 
or subordinates. His words were few ; but every word, 
like his shot and shell, was to the point. His orders 
were never misunderstood. The officers who led his 
divisions were men of genius, of devotion to the cause, 
of self-denying patriotism. It may be doubted whether 
there was ever before a more united and harmonious 
army. 

Upon reaching the Pamunkey, there was no delay, save 
an occasional halt of the advance to secure more perfect 
concentration. The march was cautiously continued all 
day of Friday, for the rebel forces were now thick around 
us. As we read the record of these movements, it seems 
impossible that men could have endured such fatigue. 
General Grant's rule seemed to be to march all night, 
and fight all day. On Saturday the foe was again 
encountered by a portion of our troops ; and, after a short 
but fiery conflict, the rebels were driven out of sight, 
leaving many of their dead and wounded in our hands. 

On Sunday the 29th, the army crossed the Pamunkey, 
with all its baggage-train, in safety. It pressed forwaid 



250 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

rapidly through the day, prepared at all points for battle, 
and anticipating every hour that Lee would burst upon 
them with his whole force. Still there was no general 
attack during the day, though the troops were annoyed 
by an incessant series of skirmishes. The foe took 
advantage of every commanding position to open upon 
us the fire of his batteries ; and at times a fierce battle 
raged for an hour, with charges and repulses. But in 
every instance the foe was eventually driven from his 
position, and the Union army pressed resistless onwards. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE MARCH FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 

The Union Lines on the Chickahominy. — The Opposing Rebel Lines. — 
The Desperate Battle. — Days of Intrenching and of Battle. — Prepa- 
rations for another Flank Movement. — The Wonderful March to Peters- 
burg. — Surprise and Alarm of the Enemy. — Change of Base of Sup- 
plies. — Conflicts around Petersburg. — The Siege Commenced. 

N Wednesday morning, the 1st of June, our 
troops had reached Cold Harbor. General 
Sheridan was placed in command there, 
with orders to hold the post at all hazards. 
He was fiercely assailed. But his cavalry, 
dismounting, and attacking the foe with carbines, drove 
them back. All the day long there was marching and 
fighting. We were now within a few miles of Richmond, 
and holding a very important position. The rebels, foiled 
in their attack by day, renewed it in the night. But 
again they met with a bloody repulse. The struggle cost 
us two thousand men. 

General Grant posted his troops in a line, about eight 
miles in length, extending north-east and south-west, from 
Bethesda Church to Cold Harbor. The church was a 
sort of dilapidated barn. The town of Cold Harbor con- 
sisted of a rude country-tavern at the junction of two 
roads'. The enemy was continually making assaults upon 
different parts of the line, though at no point meeting 

251 



252 LIFE OF GENEEAL GRANT. 

with any success. One thousand men on each side, of 
killed and wounded, were the victims of this day. Gen- 
eral Grant maintained his position, which was important, 
as commanding these divergent roads. 

The rebel line of intrenchments, for the protection of 
Richmond from an attack on the side of the north, was 
now directly before us. It was very formidable, having 
been reared by men who, beneath the stars and stripes, 
had been thoroughly educated, at West Point, in the art 
of war. Lee's army had now reached these forts, ram- 
parts, and bastions. The garrison of Richmond had 
joined him. The works were manned with the heaviest 
guns, and crowded with desperate defenders. Without an 
hour's delay, General Grant prepared to test the strength 
of these works. All the night of Wednesday the rain 
fell in floods. All the night, in the dark and the rain, 
General Grant was preparing for an assault with his 
whole force in the morning. The result was very uncer- 
tain. If successful, General Grant would have an unob- 
structed march into Richmond. If unsuccessful, he had 
another plan to which he would immediately resort. 
During Thursday, several minor battles were fought, as 
troops were moved to be massed in positions in readiness 
for the decisive attack. 

On Friday morning, our right wing rested on the Chick- 
ahominy ; our left was protected by the Tolapotomoy 
Creek. All things were now ready for the grand move- 
ment. With the early dawn, at four o'clock, the skir- 
mishers were sent forward ; and, almost simultaneously, 
the roar of battle rose along both of the hostile lines. To 
distract the foe, impetuous charges were made at several 
points. All the energies of both armies were called into 
requisition ; and there ensued a dreadful day of blood and 



FEOM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 253 

misery, the horrors of which no pen can describe, and no 
mind can adequately conceive. The heroism displayed 
by the Union troops was beyond all praise. The rebels 
were sheltered behind their earthworks. Their intrenched 
batteries frowned from the eminences. The Union troops 
marched to the muzzles of these guns, which were belch- 
ing forth canister and grape with murderous effect. 

It would require a volume faithfully to describe the 
varied events of this one battle, or rather this series of 
battles, in which three hundred thousand men, along a 
line several miles in extent, struggled in the deadly con- 
flict, all day long, with almost superhuman energies. 
Clouds of cavalry swept over the plain. Batteries were 
lost, and batteries were won. There were successful 
charges, and the cheer of victory rose above the thunder- 
ings of war's tempest. And there was the repulse, when 
the shout of the victors faded away into the wail of death. 
Night came, and the battle ceased. The carnage on both 
sides had been severe. In counting up our losses, it ap- 
peared that seven thousand were numbered among the 
killed, the wounded, and the missing. Though we gained 
several important positions, and made a decided advance, 
it was evident that the rebels were so firmly intrenched 
that they could not be driven from their works, except at 
too great a sacrifice of the lives of our brave soldiers. 

With the light of Saturday morning, the two hostile 
lines were so near each other that at several points they 
were separated by a distance of only a few yards. While 
a brisk fire was kept up during the day from the batter- 
ies and sharpshooters, all who could be spared were busy 
with the spade in throwing up intrenchments, or in 
strengthening those already formed. About nine o'clock 
at night, the rebels attempted a surprise, by massing a 



254 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

strong force, and throwing it with immense impetus upon 
our extreme left. But Hancock's watchful eye was there. 
He received them without recoil, and threw them back, 
routed and bleeding. The rebel loss was very severe. 

All day Sunday both armies worked diligently in the 
trenches. Sharpshooters on both sides were vigilant, 
and not a head or a hand could be exposed for a moment 
without being the target for many unerring bullets. 
Through all the hours of the day, there was almost an 
incessant fire of musketry and artillery, as the working 
parties, by tens of thousands, were burrowing in trenches, 
and throwing up ramparts. The region, miles in extent, 
became honeycombed with all the varied forms of military 
earthworks. 

The night which ensued was very dark. A dense fog, 
chill and damp, settled down over both hosts. The troops 
slept upon their arms, each ready for an attempt at sur 
prise. Just before midnight a very heavy column stealth- 
ily emerged from the rebel lines, and plunged with deaf- 
ening yells upon a selected portion of our works. At the 
same moment a terrible, concentrated fire from the rebel 
artillery and mortars was opened upon that point. In 
an instant our vigilant troops were in line of battle. A 
deadly storm of musketry, grape, and canister, was poured 
directly into the bosoms of the advancing foe. The col- 
umn was staggered, recoiled, fled ; and the midnight tem- 
pest was over. It had burst, like a thunderbolt from the 
sky, and as suddenly had disappeared. No eye could 
penetrate the darkness and the fog. But groans of an- 
guish and cries for help were heard emerging from the 
gloom. More than one thousand rebels, in those few 
moments, and on that narrow space, had been struck 
down dead or wouiifled. Their companions were com- 



FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 255 

pelled to abandon them, for flesh -and blood could not 
stand against the storm of lead and iron which swept 
the field. 

Tuesday was like Monday, — a day of incessant can- 
nonading, of constant practice of sharpshooters, of fre- 
quent skirmishes ; while the spade was vigorously plied. 
So many busy hands could in a short time dig rifle-pits, 
and throw up breastworks, which would effectually protect 
from the bullet, and conceal many movements. In fact, 
both armies were burrowing under ground, almost invisi- 
ble to each other. Again, at midnight of Tuesday, the 
rebels made a desperate assault upon General Burnside's 
corps. That gallant officer was not found sleeping, and 
the foe was again repulsed bloodily. It is surprising that 
the rebels were not more successful in these attacks. 
General Grant's lines extended for several miles. It was 
easy for the rebels, in the darkness, and concealed by their 
works, to mass such a force as to be able to fall with ten 
men against one upon any portion of our line. 

Wednesday was like Monday and Tuesday. The hills 
echoed with the roar of batteries. The rattle of musketry 
never ceased. There were frequent skirmishes ; and 
ramparts and bastions were rising, as by magic, upon all 
sides. There were points in which the invisible foes were 
within a few 3sards of each other. They could hear the 
noise of each other's pickaxes, and could exchange jokes 
and taunts. Jims nearly a week passed away. 

General Grant was all this time preparing for one of 
the most extraordinary movements of this or of any other 
campaign. It was not merely his object to capture Rich- 
mond ; but he desired, still more strongly, to secure the 
utter destruction of Lee's army. There was danger, 
should Gemral Grant prosecute the siege of Richmond 



256 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

from the north, that General Lee, abandoning his in- 
trenchments, might retreat into the Carolinas and 
Georgia, and still continue the conflict. General Grant 
was therefore making preparations for another flank 
movement, by which, descending the north bank of the 
Chickahominy River, he might cross it some miles below 
the enemy's lines, and then, by a rapid march to and 
across the James, take a position in the rear of Lee's 
army, south of Richmond. 

In preparation for this movement the base of supplies 
was changed, on Saturday, from the Chickahominy to the 
James River. On Sunday morning, June the 12th, the 
army, veiled from observation by its earthworks and by 
clouds of skirmishers, quietly commenced its march from 
its intrenchments. For miles these intrenchments were 
within reach of the enemy's guns. Unseen and unsus- 
pected in the movement, this majestic host of a hundred 
and fifty thousand men, — infantry, artillery, and cav- 
alry, — with their almost interminable line of wagons, 
pressed on towards their goal. All day long of Sunday 
and of Monday, and until Tuesday afternoon, with scarcely 
any rest, even at night, these iron men tramped on in si- 
lence, till the extraordinary feat was accomplished. They 
crossed the Chickahominy and the James, accomplishing 
a march of fifty-five miles without the loss of a wagon or a 
gun. This extraordinary movement was effected in the 
presence of an enemy a hundred thousand strong, des- 
perate in courage, ably officered, and whose ramparts 
were in many places within fifty yards of the intrench- 
ments from which General Grant marched his troops. 
Every possible path was crowded with the immense host. 
Through swamps and dust, and the blaze of noonday and 
the gloom of midnight, the army, guide by the energies 



FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 257 

and protected by the sagacity of one mind, pressed forward 
till the marvellous feat was accomplished. 

It will be remembered that General Butler had as- 
cended the James River with a division of the army, to 
menace Richmond from the south, and thus to prevent 
re-enforcements from being sent to General Lee. This 
measure accomplished one of its expected results. Gen- 
eral Beauregard in Richmond, leaving Lee to struggle 
unaided with Grant, hurried south with an overwhelming 
force to crush General Butler. It was impossible for 
General Butler to meet such an army in the open field. 
He accordingly threw up earthworks, and held his posi- 
tion. The enemy reared strong intrenchments in front 
of his lines, and held him where he was. Though trans- 
ports, with any amount of supplies, could reach him by 
the James River, protected by the gunboats, he could 
make no advance. 

On Wednesday morning the 15th, the Eighteenth Army 
Corps, which was in the advance, crossed the James River, 
and reached General Butler's encampment at Bermuda 
Hundred. Immediately crossing the Appomattox, these 
troops marched rapidly down the southern banks of the 
stream for an attack upon Petersburg.* The rebels now 
were thoroughly alarmed. General Lee, to his amaze 
ment, found Grant's army nearly fifty miles south of him. 
The rebels in front of General Butler, in their eagerness 
to save Petersburg, abandoned their works, and advanced, 
with a rush, for the protection of that city. Lee's army, 
impetuously, and almost upon the run, crowded through 
the streets of Richmond, and hurried by turnpike . and 
railroad to man the ramparts of Petersburg. 

General Terry, who subsequently obtained such renown 
in the capture of Fort Fisher, pushed out from Genera} 



258 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Butler's intrenchments, seized the vacated works of the 
enemy, and, advancing two or three miles, commenced des- 
troying the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond. 

Could one have looked down from a balloon upon the 
scene presented, a very extraordinary spectacle would 
have met the eye. Three hundred thousand men, in or- 
ganized masses, were spread over a space about fifteen 
miles in breadth and nearly forty in length. They were 
marching in all directions, in apparently inexplicable con- 
fusion. The heads of antagonistic columns were continu- 
ally meeting in deadly fight. Batteries were thundering 
from hill-tops. Squadrons of cavalry were sweeping the 
plains. Shot and shell shrieked through the air. Long 
lines of infantry rushed, like ocean surges, in the impetu- 
ous charge. Clouds of smoke were rising in all direc- 
tions. Piercing the tumult of musketry and artillery, 
wild battle-cries blended with shrieks of agony and death- 
groans. Such a scene cannot be described. No mortal 
mind can conceive it. 

In all the conflicts of the day, the Union troops were 
steadily gaining. The colored regiments fought with 
great gallantry, storming the enemy's works, seizing their 
rifle-pits, climbing their ramparts, and capturing their 
guns. In the march of this day, which was an incessant 
battle, the Union troops were greatly in the majority. 
But the enemy was very strongly intrenched, and Gen- 
eral Lee with his whole army was but a few hours distant, 
and on the rush to re-enforce them. It was a matter of 
great moment to capture the enemy's works, if possible, 
before the arrival of Lee. The Union troops were conse- 
quently pushed forward, almost upon the full run. They 
succeeded in taking possession of the outer line of the 
rebel defences, with sixteen guns and three hundred pris- 



FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 259 

oners, and had gained a position within two miles of 
Petersburg. But the city was found to be surrounded 
with a very formidable triple line of intrenchments. Into 
this second line the rebel army crowded rapidly and in 
great numbers, where they fought with even more than 
their customary desperation. Could they hold out but a 
few hours, an army of more than a hundred thousand 
men would join them. 

Again and again our troops, as they arrived upon the 
extended field, rushed to the assault. But the works 
were strong, the foe determined. The fire of musketry, 
grape, and canister was deadly ; and again and again the 
Union troops were repulsed with heavy loss. 

Night came, — a troubled night of anxiety, and of prep- 
aration for the renewal of the stern conflict on the mor- 
row. During the night, two thousand Union soldiers, 
struck by the missiles of war during the day, were to be 
borne to the hospitals, or consigned to their burial. It 
was so important to attack the rebel works before the 
arrival of General Lee that the next morning, notwith- 
standing the exhaustion of the preceding days, General 
Grant ordered another assault, at four o'clock. General 
Griffin's brigade was selected for tTiis attempt. The 
morning had scarcely dawned ere this gallant band 
moved forward to capture an important post occupied by 
the foe. The charge was brilliantly successful, and the 
cheers of the soldiers announced far and wide their vic- 
tory. General Griffin had driven the enemy from his 
position, captured a stand of colors, six pieces of artillery, 
and four hundred men. 

During this whole day of Friday, the battle raged over 
a field many miles in extent. There were occasional 
lulls, and again the storm of war would burst forth with 



2G0 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

renewed uproar. The enemy contested every foot of our 
progress ; yet, step by step, General Grant gained ground, 
moving slowly, yet with the resistlessness of fate. At 
night General Burnside had attained a position within a 
mile and a half of the city. He threw a few shells into 
the streets, which Lee's army was already entering. As 
these shells came shrieking and exploding in the midst 
of the dwellings of Petersburg, they must have created 
terrible forebodings of the still more dreadful storm 
which was now sure to come. 

General Lee felt the importance of driving General 
Burnside, at every hazard, from the commanding post he 
held. He massed an overwhelming force, and, on Friday 
night, hurled these columns upon Burnside with all the 
energies of despair. The battle was short, but terrible 
and deadly. The combatants fought across the breast- 
works, often hand to hand. General Burnside was over- 
powered, and driven from his position, with about equal 
loss upon both sides. 

As soon as the morning of Saturday dawned, the battle 
was renewed everywhere. Cannon replied to cannon, 
charge to charge ; and these two armies, alike desperate, 
alike determined to conquer or to die, grappled each 
other as armies have seldom grappled before. Alas, that 
men can fight so bravely, as did the rebels, in the most 
infamous cause for which men ever drew the sword, — to 
overthrow the Constitution of the United States, and to 
rear upon the wreck of our free institutions, of our noble 
democratic principle of equal rights for all men, a 
government whose corner-stone should be the enslavement 
of oar brother-man ! 

The onset of our troops was so terrible, and the ene- 
my's position in his second line so extended, that General 



FROM THE CHICKAHOMINY TO PETERSBURG. 2G1 

Lee judged it expedient to abandon that second line, that 
he might concentrate his force within a more limited 
inner line of works. This was mainly accomplished 
Friday night, and during the day of Saturday. When 
Saturday night came, our troops could look back upon 
three days of almost incessant fighting. Never in the 
history of the world had more resolution, fearlessness, 
and skill been displayed upon the field of battle. And 
yet it was found impossible to penetrate the strong ram- 
parts of the foe. In these three days, the Union army had 
lost not less than ten thousand men in killed, wounded, 
and missing. As the rebels fought under the protection 
of their works, their loss was probably much less. It 
had now become evident that the intrenchments of the 
foe were too strong to be carried by direct assault. Gen- 
eral Grant consequently commenced the regular siege of 
Petersburg and Richmond, but without the slightest 
misgiving as to the result. Re-enforcements were con- 
tinually sent to him, to replenish his diminished ranks ; 
and he quietly remarked to a friend, " I shall take Rich- 
mond, and General Lee knows it." 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 

Investing Petersburg. — The Railroads. — General Birney's Raid. — The 
Cavalry Raid of Generals Wilson and Kautz. — General Grant's Des- 
patch. — Feelings of the Soldiers. — The Bombardment of the City. — 
Sympathy between President Lincoln and General Grant. — Ewell's 
Raid. 




|§||P8f|||HE city of Petersburg, containing a popula- 
tion of about fifteen thousand, is situated 
on the south banks of the Appomattox 
River, twelve miles above City Point, where 
the Appomattox enters the James. It is 
about twenty-five miles south of Richmond. The pa- 
triot community was much disappointed, and so doubtless 
was General Grant, to find that the city was so strongly 
fortified that it could not be taken by assault. 

It was General Grant's plan gradually to extend his 
lines around the city, so as completely to invest it on 
the south and the west, and to cut its railroads, by which 
alone it could now receive supplies. The first railroad 
which the Union troops came to, south of the city, and 
which was easily seized, was the one which ran from 
Petersburg to Norfolk, in a south-easterly direction. The 
next one, about ten or twelve miles west of this, ran due 
south to Weldon, Goldsborough, and Wilmington, in 
North Carolina, thence branching off into the heart of 

262 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 2G3 

the Southern States. This road was one of great impor- 
tance to the rebels, opening to them all the resources of 
the South. There was still another road, called the 
Petersburg and Lynchburg Road, running nearly west, 
which was also almost essential to the existence of an 
army in Petersburg. 

General Lee was well aware that General Grant under- 
stood the value of these roads, and that it would be his 
first endeavor to take them. He therefore gave the most 
assiduous attention to their protection. On the night of 
the 20th of June, General Grant sent out the Second 
Corps, under General Birney, to advance towards the Wel- 
don Road. In the darkness they moved from their in- 
trenchments, and commenced a rapid and noiseless march, 
aiming to strike the rails several miles south of Peters- 
burg. The route was long ; and the hot sun of a sum- 
mer's day soon blazed down upon the troops, while clouds 
of dust smothered them, from the tramp of ten thousand 
men and horses. It is not pleasant, in a dusty day, to 
ride behind a single stage-coach. No one, who has not 
been blinded and smothered on the march, can imagine 
what it is to be in the midst of a column, miles in length, 
of horsemen, footmen, and wagons, trampling through 
dust which seems to be, not merely ankle deep, but at 
times actually over one's head, filling eyes, mouth, and 
nostrils. 

About noon, the troops reached what is called the 
Jerusalem Plank-road, which ran from Petersburg to 
Jerusalem, about half-way between the Norfolk and Wel- 
don Railroads. Here the enemy was found in strength. 
As from a gentle eminence General Birney looked down 
upon the frowning batteries, and the long lines of ram 
parts and rifle-pits, crowded with soldiers before him, it 



264 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 



was clear that he could go no farther without hard fight- 
ing. The rebels had the great advantage of occupying 
the inner lines, so that they could with great rapidity 
push re-enforcements to any menaced point. The Union 
soldiers, exhausted with the march and parched with 
thirst, were not prepared for an immediate charge. They 
took their positions, cooked their suppers, and bivouacked 
for the night, — in preparation for the battle of the 
morrow. 

Our army now occupied a circuitous line around Peters- 
burg, on its southern and eastern side, about thirty miles 
in length. General Foster's division of the Tenth Corps 
was north of the James River, at Deep Bottom. South 
of the river, a few miles from him, General Butler was 
stationed with his force, at Bermuda Hundred. Still < 
farther south, at a distance of some eight or ten miles, 
the main body of the army was gathered, in a long, strong 
line some miles in extent, directly fronting Petersburg. 
With their hundred-pounders, a round-shot or shell was 
occasionally thrown into the city. 

The Eighteenth Corps held the right of this beleaguer- 
ing host, the Ninth Corps held the centre, and most of 
the Fifth Corps the extreme left. These troops were in 
direct communication, so as to afford each other immedi- 
ate support. A few miles south and west of the ex- 
treme left of our line, General Birney was now encamped 
with the Second and a portion of the Sixth Corps, on his 
march for the Weldon Railroad, and facing the foe. 

Such was the position of our army on the night of the 
21st of June. The rebels were concentrated at Peters- 
burg, protected by the strongest intrenchments which 
could be reared. It is manifest that Lee could mass vast 
forces at his leisure, and burst forth upon any one por- I 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 265 

tion of our line for its destruction. Such was his con- 
stant aim. It was the very difficult task of General 
Grant to protect his whole line against such a calamity. 

General Lee found one corps of our army at the Jeru- 
salem Road, separated by miles from the rest, on the march, 
and unintrenched. There was already a strong force of 
his own army in well-constructed ramparts directly before 
them. Troops were hurried forward to crowd those ram- 
parts in defence, and then to emerge from them, and over- 
whelm the assailants. 

While General Birney's troops were making their 
march, on Tuesday the 21st of June, President Lincoln 
visited the army at Petersburg, and held a long interview 
with Generals Grant and Butler. Early on Wednesday 
morning, General Birney moved forward to test the 
strength of the foe. He sent first the cavalry, under Wil- 
son and Kautz, to make a rapid circuit south, and strike 
the railroad about ten miles below Petersburg. They 
were to burn bridges and depots, tear up and bend the 
rails, and inflict all the other injury which was possible. 
The remainder of the troops moved in two columns di- 
rectly against the enemy. 

By some mishap, these columns, diverging in their 
march through a dense forest, were not within supporting 
distance of each other. There was a gap between them. 
The eagle-eyed foe detected the error. A strong division 
of the enemy swept through the vacant space, and, turn- 
ing, fell impetuously upon the flank of the second divis- 
ion, led by General Barlow*. The Union troops, thus 
assailed at great disadvantage and by superior numbers, 
fought heroically. But the assault was so resistless that 
their line was doubled up, many prisoners were taken, and 
awful carnap;o endued. The rebels captured all the guns 



266 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

of Knight's battery ; took several whole regiments as pris- 
oners ; and were triumphantly advancing, spreading havoc 
around, when the Twentieth Massachusetts, under Cap- 
tain Patten, from a good position, with well-aimed mus- 
kets, poured so deadly a volley into the bosoms of the 
foe as to check and stagger them in their march. 

Volley after volley followed in swift succession. This 
respite of a few moments allowed the broken corps to 
rally. The fight continued, desperately, bloodily, all the 
day, — in the forest, — on the hill-sides, — through the 
ravines. But the disaster of the morning was irrepara- 
ble. When night came to terminate the conflict, our 
troops had made scarcely any advance, and had lost five 
hundred in killed and wounded, and over two thousand 
prisoners. In regard to the results of this expedition, 
General Grant says in his despatch, — 

" Sixty miles of railroad were thoroughly destroyed. 
The Danville Road, General Wilson reports, could not be 
repaired in less than forty days, even if all the materials 
were at hand. He has destroyed all the blacksmith-shops 
where the rails might be straightened, and all the mills 
where the scantlings for sleepers could be sawed. Thirty 
miles of the South-side Road were destroyed. Wilson 
brought in about four hundred negroes, and many of the 
vast number of horses and mules gathered by his force. 
He reports that the rebels slaughtered without mercy the 
negroes they retook. Wilson's loss of property is a small 
wagon-train used to carry ammunition, his ambulance- 
train, and twelve cannon. The horses of our artillery 
and wagons were generally brought off. Of the cannon, 
two were removed from their carriages, the wheels of 
which were broken and thrown into the water ; and one 
other gun had been disabled by a rebel shot breaking its 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 267 

trunnions, before it was abandoned. He estimates his total 
loss at from seven hundred and fifty to a thousand men." 

The next day the heat was terrible. Neither army 
seemed disposed to attempt to strike any very vigorous 
blow. General Birney sent out reconnoissances ; and 
there were several pretty sharp skirmishes during the day. 
The next morning, Thursday, 23d, a cautious movement 
was made in advance. 

Wilson and Kautz succeeded in reaching the Weldon 
Railroad, tore up its rails for a considerable distance, and 
swept across still farther west to cut the Lynchburg, or 
Danville Road, as it was also called. In this raid, upon 
which about eight thousand men were sent, with twenty- 
eight pieces of artillery, every man had his particular 
duty assigned him ; and the operations were conducted 
as regularly as the evolutions on a parade-ground. 

General Grant planned and gave minute directions for 
all these movements. The soldiers had now learned to 
place implicit confidence in his judgment. "It is won- 
derful," writes the army-correspondent of " Harper's 
Weekly," "how entirely the army confides in General 
Grant. Every soldier's tongue is full of his praises. No 
matter how severely wounded, no matter how intensely 
suffering, if there is strength enough in him to speak, 
every man in all the hospital wards will tell you, if you 
ask his opinion, — 

" ' He is one of us, — this unconditional-surrender gen- 
eral ; and he will bring us through, God willing, just as 
surely as the sun shines.' 

"Then they will tell you stories of his watchfulness 
and care, the fearlessness and intrepidity of this man 
whose plume they delight to follow ; how he is everywhere, 
by night and by day, looking after the comfort of his 



1203 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

men, and quietly prosecuting the strategic work of the 
campaign ; how he rides unexpectedly to the remote out- 
posts, speaking a pleasant word to the pickets if faith- 
fully on duty, and administering reprimands if not vigi- 
lant and watchful ; how he shuns fuss and show, going 
about often with only an orderly; how his staff — plain, 
earnest men, like himself — get down at times from their 
horses, that sick and wounded men, struggling hospital- 
ward, may rest their weariness by riding to their destina- 
tion ; how, in a word, he is a thoughtful, resolute, kind 
man, sympathizing with the humblest soldier in his ranks, 
penetrated with a solemn appreciation of the work given 
him to do, and determined, by Heaven's help, to do it, 
right on the line he has occupied. And, when they tell 
you this, these maimed heroes lying in the hospitals add 
always with a magnificent elan^ — an energy which has 
a grand touch of pride in it, — 

u ' And we'll help him do this work : we will stand by 
him, come what may; we will perish, every man of us, 
rather than have him fail, and the Cause dishonored : 
we will be prond of every scar won in fighting where he 
leads. ' " 

Ten days now passed, during which but little was ap- 
parently done. Still our troops were busy every hour 
in preparing for the blows, terrible and decisive, with 
which they soon were to strike the rebel army. They 
were daily taking new positions, throwing up new in- 
trenchments, concentrating and consolidating their lines. 
Every day there was more or less of fighting, and often a 
very fierce interchange of shots between the hostile bat- 
teries. The rebels in their desperation sought in vain a 
weak spot in our lines. On the 25th, General Sheridan, 
with a train of baggage-wagons six miles long, crorsed in 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 269 

safety the James, near Fort Powhattan, protected by the 
gunboats. The rebels attacked him ferociously, but 
were constantly thwarted and repelled. He fought his 
way against the thronging foe, from the Pamunkey to 
the James, saving every wagon, cannon, and musket. In 
the incessant battle, he lost of his division — consisting 
of about six thousand men — about five hundred in killed 
and wounded. 

The bombardment of a city is one of the most terrible 
things in the world. To the inmates of the city it must 
be awful beyond description. From General Smith's 
front, a thirty-pound Parrott shell was thrown every five 
minutes, day after day, into the city. Long practice 
enabled the gunners to throw these terrible missiles with 
great accuracy. At length General Grant got several 
heavy siege-guns in a position which commanded the 
city, and at once commenced throwing a shell every fif- 
teen minutes during the night. 

These shells were dropped in all parts of the city, 
through all the hours of the night. They exploded with 
thunder roar, scattering ruin and death around. No one 
could tell where they would fall. All were alike exposed. 
If one fell upon the roof of any building, it sank with a 
crash to the cellar, and, there bursting, blew up the 
whole edifice, and buried all the inmates in a common 
grave. 

On Thursday night the 30th, several large fires were 
kindled by the shells. Hour after hour the miserable 
city burned. While the flames were raging, the shells 
were still falling. The glare of the fire, the dense vol- 
umes of billowy smoke which rose, and the mournful 
ringing of the alarm bells, presented a scene which sad- 
dened the hearts even of those who were inflicting this 



270 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

terrible chastisement upon the foe. They felt that the 
war, with all its horrors, must be prosecuted until the 
rebels would abandon their endeavor to overthrow those 
free institutions of our land in which the hopes of hu- 
manity for all coming time are enshrined. There were 
probably but few in the city at this time but the rebel 
soldiers. The door was wide open for the escape of ail 
who wished to leave. 

Very cordial sympathy existed between General Grant 
and President Lincoln during all these operations. It 
was very fortunate for the country, that, in these great 
emergencies, two men so honest,' sincere, unaffected, 
unselfish, were at the head of our civil and military ad- 
ministration. Secretary Stanton co-operated with both 
with harmony never disturbed by a ripple even of ill 
feeling or of jealousy. As General Grant entered upon 
this campaign, President Lincoln wrote to him the fol- 
lowing letter. It was dated, Executive Mansion, Wash- 
ington, April SO, 186-1 : — 

■" Lieutenant-General Grant, — Not expecting to sec 
you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to express, 
in this, my entire satisfaction with what you have done 
up to this time, so far as I understand it. The particu- 
lars of your plans I neither know nor seek to know. You 
are vigilant and self-reliant; and, pleased with this, 
I wish not to obtrude any restraints or constraints upon 
you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster, 
or capture of our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, 
I know that these points are less likely to escape your 
attention than they would be mine. If there be any 
thing wanting which it is within my power to give, do not 
fail to let mo know it. 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 



" And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may 
God sustain you ! 

" Yours very truly, 

" A. Lincoln." 

To this General Grant gave the following reply, dated 
Headquarters Armies of the United States, Culpeppe 
Court-house, May 1, 1864 : — 



jcr 



" The President, — Your very kind letter of yester- 
day is just received. The confidence you express for the 
future, and satisfaction for the past, in my military admin- 
istration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall be my 
earnest endeavor that you and the country shall not be 
disappointed. From my first entrance into the volunteer 
service of the country to the present day, I have never 
had cause of complaint, have never expressed or implied 
complaint against the administration, or the Secretary of 
War, for throwing any embarrassment in the way of my 
vigorously prosecuting what appeared to be my duty. 

" Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in com- 
mand of all the armies, and in view of the great respon- 
sibility and importance of success, I have been astonished 
at the readiness with which every thing asked for has 
been yielded, without even an explanation being asked. 
Should my success be less than I desire and expect, the 
least I can say is, the fault is not with you. 

" Very truly your obedient servant, 

"U. S. Grant." 

General Lee endeavored to distract the attention of Gen- 
eral Grant, and to draw off his troops from the siege of 
Richmond, by sending, under General Evvell, a carefully- 



272 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

selected army of twenty-five thousand men, who could 
move with much celerity, to menace Washington. Gen- 
eral Hunter had been left to guard the valley of the 
Shenandoah from such a raid. The Union force in the 
valley was not, however, sufficiently strong to resist such 
an army as Ewell commanded. As these solid battalions 
swept like a flood down the valley, our scattered troops 
in haste evacuated their positions, losing many valuable 
stores. 

The rebels crossed the Potomac at several points, and 
sent strong bodies of their fleet cavalry in various direc- 
tions, plundering and destroying. The panic all through 
that region was terrible. Hagerstown, in Maryland, was 
seized by the rebels, plundered, and twenty thousand 
dollars extorted from the inhabitants to save their four 
hundred buildings from the flames. Mosby's cavalry 
came clattering into the streets of Frederick City. Here, 
again, they robbed the stores ; and as it was rather a 
wealthy town, of about six thousand inhabitants, they 
extorted from them a ransom of two hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Conscious that their time was short, they tarried 
scarcely an hour at any one place. Onwards these ma- 
rauding bands swept. They struck the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad, and destroyed it for several miles. Troops were 
rapidly gathering from the North to chastise these bold 
raiders. General Wallace had rendezvoused about ten 
thousand men at Monocacy Junction. Ewell fell upon him 
with twenty thousand. There was a desperate battle, in 
which the Union troops were driven back with severe loss. 
Washington and Baltimore were in terror. Detachments 
of the foe were reported within sixteen miles of Balti- 
more, loading their wagons with plunder, driving off 



SIEGE OF l'ETEIlSBUUG. 2/3 

herds, levying contributions, tearing up rails, cutting 
telegraph wires, and burning bridges. All the alarm 
bells of the city were rung, summoning the whole male 
population for the defence of the place. 

At Washington, the enemy was reported at Rockville, 
but thirteen miles from the city, and, soon again, as within 
five miles of the metropolis, where they applied the torch 
to the mansion of Governor Bradford, and laid it in 
ashes. General Augur — in military command at Wash- 
ington — summoned the marines, the home guards, and 
even the employees in the Government Departments, to 
aid in defence of the capitol. 

Detachments of cavalry swept rapidly around to the 
north of Baltimore, and destroyed portions of the North- 
ern Central Railroad. Another band, on fleet horses, 
ventured even to the Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wil- 
mington Road, destroying the track, and firing several 
trains. But now the troops were so rapidly gathering 
from the North that these bold raiders, acting upon the 
principle, that the " better part of courage is discretion," 
commenced their retreat. They had inflicted an immense 
amount of mischief, and had filled their wagons with 
supplies. But they had not induced General Grant to 
relinquish, in the slightest degree, his grasp upon the foe 
at Petersburg. 

General Grant was well aware that the raid could be 
only very transient, that the North would speedily send 
down a sufficient military force to put the invaders to flight. 
Instead, therefore, of abandoning his works to rush to 
the defence of the Northern cities, he merely sent a few 
troops in transports to render Washington secure, and 
pushed his siege with renewed vigor. As the raiders 
retreated, they were pursued by the volunteer force, 
is 



274 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

though not with much vigor. A few prisoners were 
taken, a few hundred were killed, and some of their well- 
filled wagons were captured. The raiders had gained 
provisions and other stores sufficient to supply their army 
for a few additional days, but they had accomplished 
nothing in the way of raising the siege of Richmond. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 

Labors of a Beleaguering Army. — Attack upon Richmond from the 
North. — The Mine : Its Construction, Explosion, Results. — Gregg's 
Raid to the Weldon Road. — Its Seizure. — Desperate but Unsuccess- 
ful Struggles of the Rebels. — Treachery of the Rebels. — Military- 
Railroad. — Tidings of the Capture of Atlanta. — Obduracy of Jeff. 
Davis. — Immensity of General Grant's Cares. 

HERE is no rest in the trenches of a besieging 
army. Every clay is a battle. Sharpshooters 
are constantly on the watch for an exposed 
head or hand. Batteries open their con- 
centrated fire upon the rising ramparts. 
Shells mount shrieking through the air, and drop in the 
midst of the workmen who are burrowing in the par- 
allels. There is incessant toil with the spade, now under 
a blazing sun, and again in drenching storms. Often 
new positions are to be gained at the expense of a terri- 
ble conflict. The besieged are ever making desperate 
sorties, by night as well as by day, plunging, with over- 
whelming force, upon some point of the investing line 
where they hope to destroy both the works and the 
workmen. 

In such labors as these the month of July passed away. 
General Grant was daily advancing, step by step, nearer 
to the foe. His lines of circumvallation, ever changing, 

275 




'J<0 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

were about twenty miles long. He was about to make 
another attempt to seize and hold the Weldon Railroad. 
The plan he adopted for the accomplishment of this end 
was to send secretly a strong force, under the impetuous 
Sheridan, to attack Richmond upon the north. Should 
Lee send a large force from Petersburg to protect Rich- 
mond, General Grant could then strike heavily upon the 
weakened rebel lines. Should General Lee fear to with- 
draw troops from Petersburg, and thus send no re- 
enforcements to the ramparts above Richmond, Sheridan 
would be able to seize very important positions there. 

On the 26th of July, the Second Army Corps secretly 
commenced its march from our extreme right, and, fol- 
lowed by Sheridan's cavalry, crossed the Appomattox at 
Point of Rocks. Pushing rapidly forward, by midnight 
of the same day they reached the James River, and 
crossed it at Jones Neck. The secret passage was effected 
by means of a pontoon bridge muffled with hay. With 
rapid strides the troops continued their march until they 
reached Deep Bottom, within twelve miles of Richmond. 
Here they found an encampment of the rebels, whom 
they easily scattered, capturing their intrenchments and 
a battery. The tidings were flashed from Richmond 
along the wires to Lee at Petersburg. Much alarmed, 
he immediately despatched twenty thousand men with 
twenty pieces of artillery to aid in repelling the assailants. 

General Grant, having thus gained his object, opened 
a vigorous cannonade upon the enemy's works, in prepa- 
ration for a general charge. The bombardment was con- 
tinued by night. The flash of the guns, the meteoric 
shells circling through the air, the flames of wide and 
wasting conflagrations bursting out in various parts of 
the city, and the incessant roar of the explosions, pre- 



PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 277 

sented one of the sublimest scenes in war's dreadful 
drama. 

For a month, Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants had been 
diligently and sagaciously at work, with the Forty-eighth 
Pennsylvania, in digging a mine to blow up one of the 
most formidable of the forts of the enemy. It was his 
plan, immediately after the explosion, to have several 
thousand troops rush through the chasm, and seize upon 
a very important eminence beyond. The mine was 
started from a ravine opposite to General Burnside's 
corps. Unfortunately, some of the officers looked con- 
temptuously upon the scheme, and did not co-operate with 
that energy which was essential to its success. Had 
General Burnside's plans been cordially adopted, there 
can be no doubt that the result would have been highly 
advantageous. 

A gallery was dug four and a half feet high, and of the 
same width, for a distance of five hundred feet into the 
hill. The earth brought out was covered with bushes to 
conceal it from the view of the rebels. The miners bur- 
rowed their way along until they were directly under the 
rebel fort. Here they dug two lateral galleries, one 
thirty-seven and the other thirty-eight feet in length. 
In these galleries eight magazines for the powder were 
constructed. These magazines were charged with four 
tons of powder strongly tamped. 

Directly over this sleeping volcano stood the rebel fort, 
garrisoned by two hundred men, with six guns and all 
the necessary camp-equipage. The men were singing, 
dancing, and playing cards, but little conscious of the 
awful doom which was awaiting them. At the moment 
of the explosion, a terrible cannonade was to be opened 
upon all the rebel works in the vicinity. Under cover of 



278 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

this bombardment, the storming party, rushing through 
the gap cut by the mine, were to seize the crest of 
Cemetery Hill beyond, which so effectually commanded 
Petersburg that the city would be in our power. 

Just after midnight of Friday, July 29, all the ar- 
rangements were completed : the fuse was laid through 
the long, dark, damp gallery, and the mine was ready to 
be sprung. The cannoneers stood at the siege-guns 
ready to open their fire. The field artillery was har- 
nessed for the rush. Sheridan's cavalry were astride 
their horses to make a charge upon another portion of 
the enemy's works. The Union troops were cautiously 
drawn back, that they might not be injured by the erup- 
tion which would throw rocks, guns, and the bodies of 
men, far and wide. 

r It was a beautiful morning, clear and serene, the moon 
shining brightly. At half-past three o'clock the fuse was 
lighted. The morning was beginning to dawn ; and the 
rebels could be seen sitting about, and strolling upon 
and in front of their parapets, enjoying the refreshing 
coolness, entirely unsuspicious of danger. Our army 
was awake, and every point of favorable observation was 
crowded with men, waiting with interest the expected 
upheaval. 

Minutes seemed hours ; and yet a whole hour passed, 
and there was no explosion. It was probable that, in 
the dripping passage, the fuse at some point had become 
injured and had gone out. Lieutenant Douty and Ser- 
geant Reese boldly entered the gallery to ascertain the 
difficulty. They found the fuse extinguished about a 
hundred feet from the entrance. Relighting it, they crept' 
back. It was then nearly five o'clock. The troops were 
beginning to pronounce the whole affair a failure. There 



PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 279 

came a trembling of the earth, — a smothered roar, — 
and then a volcanic burst of flame and smoke. Rocks, 
timbers, earth, guns, and men were thrown, in a vast 
spreading column, a hundred and fifty feet into the air. 
These were all enveloped in heavy folds of billowy smoke, 
which wrapped in its funereal pall, blended with the 
debris, the mangled forms of two hundred men. 

For a moment there was a pause, as all eyes regarded 
the gigantic apparition. The next moment a hundred 
guns opened their roar, and in rapid fire hurled round- 
shot and shell in and upon the rebel works. For miles 
upon miles the resounding thunder rolled. As the vast 
column thrpwn into the air fell in wide-spread and indes- 
cribable ruin, an immense chasm appeared, several hun- 
dred feet long, fifty feet wide, and twenty feet deep. 

Thus far the mine had been a triumphant success. 
For some cause, not easily explained, the charging column, 
after a delay of ten minutes, — when seconds were of 
priceless value, — rushed into the gap, and there halted, 
and commenced throwing up intrenchments. The impor- 
tant point to be gained was the crest of Cemetery Hill, 
four hundred yards beyond. 

" Ledlie still halted in the excavation. Wilcox and 
Potter soon followed him, and the three divisions became 
intermixed, and general confusion prevailed. An hour 
of precious time was lost. Ledlie made no attempt to 
move in or out, and Potter and Wilcox could not go 
forward while he blocked the way." * 

This delay was fatal. The rebels recovered from their 
stupor. They opened fire upon the crater from all the 
guns which could be brought to bear upon it, and planted 

* Charles Cavleton Coffin. 



280 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

new batteries upon the eminences to enfilade the troops 
crowded together in that narrow spot. Still it was more 
than an hour before a single shot was fired by the rebels. 
It is mortifying to think that a victory, so easily within 
our grasp, should have been thus lost. Potter at last 
succeeded in extricating his troops from the confusion, 
and pushed on towards the crest. But being unsupported, 
and the rebels being then prepared to meet him, he was 
driven back by the storm of grape and canister which 
was hurled into his ranks. 

The rebels concentrated their fire into the crowded 
crater, where our brigades had thrown up some slight 
intrenchments. The day was lost. Nothing remained 
but to escape as rapidly as possible from the gorge, which 
the soldiers truly designated as a slaughter-pen. It was 
certain death to remain. It was almost equally certain 
death to attempt a retreat, as the rebel batteries swept 
the only possible line of escape. On this bloody day, in 
which we might so easily have gained a signal victory, 
we lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, four thousand 
men. The enemy lost but a thousand. 

The plan did not originate with General Grant. He 
saw, however, that it was a wise undertaking, and gave 
to it his consent. All engrossed as he was with the im- 
mense cares of the campaign, he very properly left the 
details of this local enterprise to those who had conceived 
the design. In the subsequent examination of this affair 
by the Committee on the Conduct of the War, General 
Grant said, — 

" General Burnside wanted to put his colored division 
in front ; and I believe, that, if he had done so, it would 
have been a success. Still I agreed with General Meade 
in his objection to the plan. General Meade said, that if 



PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 281 

we put colored troops in front, and it should prove a 
failure, it would then be said, probably, that we were 
shoving those people ahead to get killed, because we did 
not care any thing about them. But that could not be 
said, if we put white troops in front." 

This Committee on the Conduct of the War assign the 
following as reasons why the attack should have been 
successful : — 

1. The evident surprise of the enemy at the time of 
the explosion of the mine and for some time after. 

2. The comparatively small force in the enemy's works. 

3. The ineffective fire of the enemy's artillery and 
musketry ; there being scarcely any for about thirty min- 
utes after the explosion, and our artillery being just the 
reverse as to time and power. 

4. The fact that our troops were able to get two hun- 
dred yards before the crater, towards the west, but could 
not remain there, or proceed farther, for want of supports. 

This repulse was a great disappointment, but it did 
not occasion the slighest shade of despondency in the 
army or throughout the country. Still the weary days 
glided along. There was incessant digging, marching, 
fighting. There were bombardments and skirmishes 
and charges and bold raids, day after day. No pen can 
ever describe them all. The rebel intrenchments were 
very strong, — so strong that there could easily be spared 
from their impregnable ramparts a force sufficiently 
numerous to enable them to command the valley of the 
Shenandoah. 

About the middle of August, a scries of movements 
was commenced on the north bank of the James. The 
rebels fought bravely from behind their intrenchments. 
Still our troops, with amazing recklessness of courage. 



282 LIFE OF GENEFvAL GRANT. 

stormed the ramparts, and obtained positions within six 
miles of Richmond. This attack upon Richmond from 
the north was intended as a feint, to draw off the troops 
of Lee in that direction. 

In co-operation with this movement, Gregg's cavalry 
division was sent, on the morning of the 18th, with four 
days' rations, to make another attempt to gain possession 
of the Weldon Railroad. They left their encampment at 
four o'clock, and at eight o'clock struck the road at a 
station six miles south of Richmond. One portion of the 
command immediately commenced tearing up and de- 
stroying the track. Another strong, well-armed detach- 
ment advanced two or three miles towards the city, and 
intrenched themselves in a position to repel the foe. The 
tidings soon reached the ears of Lee. He hurried for- 
ward two brigades for the rescue of the road. There 
was a sanguinary battle, which continued until night. 
The rebels were driven back with the loss of about a 
thousand men. As "it was certain that General Lee would 
make the most desperate endeavors to regain the road, 
our troops toiled through the night in enlarging and 
strengthening their defences. 

The next day the rebels came down from Petersburg 
in overwhelming force. With the utmost fury they 
commenced the battle. The result was long doubtful. 
They were just upon the point of a very decisive and 
bloody victory, when the Ninth Army Corps opportunely 
arrived to the support of their exhausted comrades of the 
Fifth ; and the exultant rebels were decisively repulsed. 
Their exhaustion was so great, and their loss so heavy, 
that they did not venture the next day — Saturday — to 
renew the attack. The precious hours, the Union troops 
employed in strengthening their works. 



PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 283 

Sunday morning the rebels, having recruited their 
strength and received large re-enforcements from the 
city, moved forward with much energy, for another 
struggle to regain the road. They were repulsed with 
great slaughter. Monday, they renewed the attack ; and 
again their charging lines melted away before the awful 
storm of grape and canister belched from our ramparts. 
Tuesday, these desperate men, with renovated numbers, 
marched forth again to the assault ; and again, torn and 
broken, they retreated, leaving the ground covered with 
their slain. We had gained the Weldon Road, two and a 
half miles from Petersburg, and all the powers of Rebel- 
dom could not force General Grant to relinquish his hold. 
The loss of the road was a terrible calamity to General 
Lee. It cut off so important a line for supplies and 
recruits as to forebode the destruction of his army. Lee 
therefore resolved to make another attempt, with all his 
available strength, to regain the road. He concentrated an 
immense force, gathered from every point of his encamp- 
ment from which troops could be spared, and massed them 
in heavy columns concealed in the forest. 

At a given signal they all rushed upon our lines, 
leaped over our breastworks, and engaged in a hand-to- 
hand fight. The struggle on both sides was marked with 
desperation which had not been surpassed during the war. 

The carnage was dreadful. Our troops fought desper- 
ately against these overpowering numbers. Though they 
lost two thousand prisoners, and a thousand in killed 
and wounded, they still held their position during the 
day. When night came, they fell back a few miles along 
the railroad, to a still stronger position, where they could 
defy all the efforts of the enemy to dislodge them. 

General Grant did not allow General Lee an hour of 



28-1 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

repose. From the rebel forts and bastions north of Rich- 
mond to their ramparts south of Petersburg, there was a 
distance of about thirty miles. General Grant, by mak- 
ing demonstrations, now at this point and now at that, 
kept the rebel troops in a state of constant harassment, 
compelling them incessantly to traverse this distance, to 
and fro, of thirty miles, to protect menaced points. 

Occasionally a day would be appointed for shelling the 
city. All the day long, the roar of the bombardment 
shook the hills, as shot and shell fell like hail into the 
streets and upon the dwellings of Petersburg. There 
was but little sense of honor with these bold, bad men 
who were fighting for the destruction of free institutions. 
They often bayoneted our wounded ; shot in cold blood 
our colored soldiers, refusing them any quarter ; and lit- 
erally starved to death the prisoners they took. 

The great issues of the war did not depend at all upon 
the death, here and there, of individual soldiers. There 
was consequently often a tacit truce between the pickets, 
when the men on both sides would walk unmolested in 
front of their works, and there was a friendly interchange 
of newspapers, tobacco, and coffee, while the Union and 
Confederate soldiers would good-humoredly talk and joke 
together. It was deemed a point of honor that the signal 
should be given, on such occasions, before hostilities were 
resumed. One day while our men were out as usual, 
exposed on the plain before their works, the rebels 
opened fire upon them without any warning. The 
Richmond editors rubbed their hands with glee over this 
achievement, which they pronounced to be a " delicious 
piece of retaliation " for the bombardment of Petersburg. 
Two hundred Union soldiers were thus murdered ; for 
this was deliberate murder, not honorable warfare. 



PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 285 

On the 4th of September, tidings reached General 
Grant's army, that General Sherman had taken Atlanta. 
The joyful event was celebrated by the salute of a hun- 
dred shotted guns discharged upon the doomed city, and 
by the cheers of a hundred thousand men. The rebels, 
in defiant reply, opened fire from every gun. This 
brought into action all the batteries along our lines, and, 
for an hour, war's tempest raged in its most sublime up- 
roar. Scarcely any thing human can be conceived more 
impressive than this response to General Sherman's tele- 
gram announcing his great victory. 

Thus the weeks of battle and of blood rolled on. Not 
for an hour was there any cessation. The Weldon Road 
was now our own, and the rebels found ever increasing 
difficulty to obtain supplies. Early in September we had 
a well-constructed railroad, passing through the heart of 
our camps, a distance of nearly thirty miles, from City 
Point — our base of supplies — to the position at our ex- 
treme left on the Weldon Road. An effort was now made 
by some distinguished and benevolent men in the North, 
with the consent of the Government, to stay the further 
effusion of blood by peace. But Jefferson Davis, the 
rebel chieftain, would listen to no terms which did not 
destroy the Government of the United States. " The 
North," said he, " was mad and blind. It would not let 
us govern ourselves. So the war came. Now it must 
go on till the last man falls in his tracks, and his children 
seize his musket and fight his battles. We will govern 
ourselves. We will do it, if we have to see every South- 
ern plantation sacked, and every Southern city in flames." 




CHAPTER XXTEL 

grant's battles and Sherman's march. 

General Grant's Report. — General Butler's Movement upon Richmond. — 
March to the South-side Railroad. — Midnight Bombardment. — Re- 
newed attempt upon the South-side Railroad. — President Lincoln's Sec- 
ond Inaugural. — Sherman's Wonderful March. — Ravages of the March. 
— Capture of Savannah. 

HERE were two approaches by which Gen- 
eral Grant was now crowding upon Rich- 
mond. One was from the north, by the 
roads which led from Malvern Hill and 
Deep Bottom. The other was from the 
south, leading either through or around Petersburg. 
From both these directions General Grant was waging an 
incessant battle. In his official repopt, he had said to the 
Government, — 

" From an early period in the Rebellion, I had been 
impressed with the idea that active and continuous opera- 
tions of all the troops that could be brought into the field, 
regardless of season and weather, were necessary to a 
speedy termination of the war. From the first, 1 was 
firm in the conviction that no peace could be had, that 
would be stable and conducive to the happiness of the 
people, both North and South, until the military power of 
the Rebellion was entirely broken. I therefore deter- 
mined first, to use the greatest number of troops practi- 

2S6 



GRANT'S BATTLES AND SHERMAN'S MARCH. 287 

cable against the armed force of the enemy, preventing him 
from using the same force, at different seasons, against 
first one and then another of our armies, and from the 
possibility of repose for refitting, and producing necessary 
supplies for carrying on resistance ; second, to hammer 
continuously against the armed force of the enemy and 
his resources until, by mere attrition if in no other way, 
there should be nothing left to him but an equal submis- 
sion, with the loyal section of our common country, to 
the Constitution and laws of the land." 

General Grant, being now firmly in possession of the 
Weldon Road, made preparations for another advance in 
his investing circle towards the west, to seize the South- 
side Railroad, which ran from Petersburg directly west 
to Burkville and Lynchburg. The loss of this important 
line of communication would be irreparable to the rebels 
To cover the movement, another very vigorous attack 
was to be made upon Richmond from the north. 

In the night of Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Eighteenth 
and Tenth Corps, in light marching order, moved from 
Bermuda Hundred up to Jones Neck, where they crossed 
the James on muffled pontoons, and marched to the 
vicinity of Deep Bottom. General Grant, with General 
Butler, who was in command at Bermuda Hundred, 
accompanied the expedition. The troops pressed along 
as rapidly as possible, and before daylight encountered 
the enemy's pickets, and drove them in. Fighting their 
way onward, through many brisk skirmishes, after a 
march of three miles, they came to a road running from 
the one they were upon to the James River, near Fort 
Darling, but a few miles below Richmond. 

Here they found a long line of intrenchments, very 
strong in their construction, heavily armed, and crowded 



288 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

with troops. The line was strengthened by connecting 
forts. The adjacent eminences, lining the left banks of 
the river, frowned with batteries. Drury's Bluff, crowned 
by Fort Darling, was upon the opposite side of the river. 
Our troops found themselves in the midst of a labyrinth 
of fortifications, which the rebels had been constructing 
for three years. For miles there was an interminable 
series of forts, ramparts, bastions, rifle-pits, and connecting 
passages. Defeated at any one point, the rebels had but 
to retreat a few yards in the rear to another equally 
strong. 

General Grant, as we have said, accompanied this ex- 
pedition. Quiet and undemonstrative as he was, his 
presence inspired the troops with tenfold ardor. A broad, 
open plain skirted the approach to the frowning ramparts. 
The country around was a wilderness region, sparsely in- 
habited, filled with forests. Our troops formed in the 
dense woods, dashed out over the plain, and, in the face 
of an appalling fire, which struck down eight hundred of 
their number, clambered over the first line of intrench- 
ments, and carried them with loud cheers. We thus cap- 
tured one of the forts, which was called Fort Morris. 
Sixteen pieces of artillery — several of them heavy siege- 
guns — were the trophies of the gallant achievement. 

Scarcely a bullet struck the rebels, as they fled to other 
protected points in the rear, and immediately opened 
upon the victors, from every gun which could be brought 
to bear upon them, a deadly fire. The position could not 
be held. 

In the mean time, General Birney, in command of the 
Tenth Corps, with Paine's colored division of the Eigh- 
teenth Corps, had marched from the New Market Road, 
down the Kingsland Road, towards the river. Here, on a 



GRANT'S BATTLES AND SHERMAN'S MARCH. 289 

commanding eminence called New Market Heights, they 
found the foe, as ever, strongly intrenched, and surround- 
ed by all the means of defence which modern military 
art could supply. The colored troops led the charge 
with great gallantry. Though in the impetuous rush 
nearly six hundred men dropped by the way, struck down 
by the deadly fire of the foe, the rebels were driven pell- 
mell from their works before this long line of eager, black 
faces. White troops never fought better. General Grant 
was delighted with their heroism, and they were re- 
warded with a special letter of congratulation. General 
Birney pushed on with his exultant troops along the New 
Market Road, until he came within six miles of Rich- 
mond. 

General Kautz, with his cavalry, was sent out to recon- 
noitre. The horsemen passed rapidly along the Central 
Road until they reached a spot within a few miles of 
Richmond, where several batteries opened fire upon them. 
General Terry also crossed from the New Market to the 
Central Road, and followed the path the cavalry had trav- 
ersed. These movements alarmed General Lee. He 
had no means of knowing how large was the force assail- 
ing him from the north. There was danger that Rich- 
mond might be penetrated through some weak point, and 
captured. 

On Friday morning, both of the Union corps were con- 
centrated before Harrison Battery, within three miles of 
the city. They had cut through the most advanced 
works of the enemy, and were now prepared to deal 
ponderous blows upon the inner line. The thunder of 
their guns shook the dwellings of the rebel metropolis. 
Richmond was thrown into consternation. Every avail- 
able man was brought into requisition. General Lee, 

19 



290 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

with his re-enforcements, pushed forward with the utmost 
precipitancy to meet the emergence. 

In the mean time, General Grant, leaving General But- 
ler to conduct the movement before Richmond, had hur- 
ried back a distance of over thirty miles to superintend 
his grand movement upon the South-side Road, for which 
this attack upon Richmond was merely preparatory. The 
column of advance was composed of two divisions of the 
Ninth Corps, and most of the Fifth. General Warren 
was in command. The weather was fine, the roads in 
admirable condition. The troops, in the best of spirits, 
commenced their march as if setting out on an excursion 
of pleasure. They left Four Mile Station on the Weldon 
Road, and, by a circuitous route of about twenty miles, 
approached the Lynchburg Road at a point called Poplar 
Grove. 

Genera] Lee had availed himself of all his resources 
to prevent the possibility of the capture of this railway, 
which was so essential to the sustenance of his army. 
On the march our troops encountered a series of forts, 
intrenchments, and rifle-pits, which involved them in sev- 
eral very bloody battles. Exhausted, bleeding, with 
thinned ranks, these determined men toiled on. Rain 
came, and, with the rain, the mud. Along the flooded 
roads, and beneath the blackened sky, the tempest of bat- 
tle flashed and roared. We gained victory after victory, 
but always at a heavy price. The enemy, when unable 
longer to resist the impetuous charges, fled to other works 
in the rear. Thus the Union troops fought their way 
along, mile after mile. Though the enemy was found in 
such strength that we were not able to get possession of 
the South-side Railroad, our troops gained a position but 
a few miles from it, at Poplar Grove Church, from which 



GRANT'S BATTLES AND SHERMAN'S MARCH. '201 

no efforts of the rebels could drive us. Thus, step by 
step; General Grant was advancing in his great achieve- 
ment. 

General Butler's movement on the north was eminently 
successful. He gained and held positions which annoyed 
Lee exceedingly. Though the rebel general exerted his 
utmost strength, sacrificing thousands of men in the 
struggle to drive General Butler back, all his efforts were 
unavailing. At every point the Union army was steadily 
making progress, and seldom did General Grant lose any 
position which his troops had won. 

The latter part of October, there was another move- 
ment organized against the South-side Road. The col- 
umn selected for this important enterprise upon the 
railway consisted of Hancock's Second Corps, Weitzel's 
Eighteenth Infantry, and the Cavalry Corps of Kautz 
and Gregg. The march was to be conducted with the 
greatest secrecy, by remote and obscure roads. No bugle- 
calls were to be sounded, no camp-fires were to be built. 
Generals Grant and Meade accompanied the expedition. 

But in some way, — no one knows how, — the rebels 
had gained information of the movement, and had secretly 
gathered a large force to repel it. The troops started 
just before daylight. After a short march, as they were 
fording a small stream, they found themselves almost 
ambushed in the midst of the foe. Batteries frowned 
all around them. Felled trees encumbered the roads. 
From every point they were assailed, by both infantry 
and artillery. They fought desperately and. as usual, 
victoriously, slowly forcing their way along. Their am- 
munition was nearly exhausted, and with the night a 
heavy rain set in. As it was evident that the rebels were 
gathered at that point in great force, and that their 



292 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

series of intrcnchments could only be carried at the 
expense of a fearful slaughter of the Union troops, it was 
deemed best to abandon the expedition. All the night 
long, through the darkness and the rain, the troops, ex- 
hausted as they were, marched back to the camps which 
they had left so hopefully in the morning. But no one 
was disheartened. General Grant had his hand upon the 
throat of the Rebellion ; and, notwithstanding its writh- 
ings, he would not relinquish his grasp until the monster 
was strangled. 

Thus days and weeks of incessant warfare passed with- 
out any very decisive results, though, daily, Lee was losing 
and Grant was gaining. 

It is important that there should be some reference to 
General Sherman's wonderful march from Chattanooga 
to Savannah ; for this was a very essential part of Grant's 
campaign against Richmond. In a speech which General 
Sherman made in Louisville from the balcony of the Bur- 
nett House, after the close of the war, he said, — 

" While we are here together to-night, let me tell you, 
as a point of historical interest, that here, upon this spot, 
in this very hotel, and, I think, almost in the room through 
which I reached this balcony, General Grant and I laid 
down our maps, and studied the campaign which ended 
the war. I had been away down in Mississippi, finishing 
up an unfinished job I had down there, when General 
Grant called for me, by telegraph, to meet him in Nash- 
ville. But we were bothered so much there that we came 
up here, and in this hotel sat down with our maps, and 
talked over the lines and the operations by means of 
which we were to reach the heart of our enemy. He 
went to Richmond, and I to Atlanta. The result was 
just as we laid it out in this hotel, in March, 1864." 






GRANT'S BATTLES AND SHERMAN'S MARCH. 293 

In President Lincoln's second inaugural address, he 
said, standing upon the steps of the Capitol, in words 
which were echoed throughout all Christendom, — 

" The Almighty has his own purposes. ' Woe unto 
the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that 
offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence 
Cometh ! ' If we shall suppose that American slavery is 
one of those offences which in the providence of God 
must needs come, but which, having continued through 
his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he 
gives to both North and South this war as the woe due to 
those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein 
any departure from those divine attributes which the 
believers in a living God always ascribe to him ? Fondly 
do we hope, fervently do we pray, that the mighty scourge 
of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that 
it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's 
two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be 
sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash 
shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said 
three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ' The 
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto- 
gether.' " 

On the 25th of December, 1864, General Sherman had 
achieved his sublime march from Atlanta to Savannah. 
With his majestic host he had swept across the whole 
State of Georgia, in a path sixty miles in width and over 
three hundred in length, destroying every thing which 
could assist the rebels to carry on the war. About sixty 
thousand troops were gathered under his banners. Three 
thousand five hundred wagons were in his train, requiring 
the services of thirty-five thousand horses in addition to 
the cavalry. 



294 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

The destruction was awful. The army marched the 
whole distance in twenty-four days. In the entire com- 
mand, but five hundred and sixty-seven men of all ranks 
were either killed or wounded. Ten thousand negroes, 
liberating themselves, entered Savannah in the train of 
the army. Thirteen hundred and thirty-eight of the 
Confederate army were made prisoners. Twenty thou- 
sand bales of cotton were burned, besides twenty-five 
thousand captured at Savannah. Thirteen thousand head 
of beef-cattle, nine million five hundred thousand pounds 
of corn, and ten million five hundred thousand pounds of 
fodder were taken from the country. Foragers were 
every day sent out, along the whole line of route, to 
gather all the sheep, hogs, turkeys, geese, chickens, sweet 
potatoes, and rice from the plantations. Five thousand 
horses and four thousand mules were impressed for the 
cavalry and trains. Three hundred and twenty miles of 
railway were destroyed, by burning every tie, twisting 
every rail while heated red hot over the flaming piles of 
the ties, and laying in ruins every depot, engine-house, 
repair-tank, water-tank, and turn-table. Thus the com- 
munication between the Confederate armies in Virginia 
and in the West was effectually severed. General Sher- 
man estimated the damage done to the State of Georgia 
at a hundred million dollars. Of this, twenty million 
dollars inured to our advantage. The remainder was 
simple waste and destruction. 

Such is war. These dreadful blows were necessary to 
bring the wicked rebellion to an end. The discipline of 
the army was well maintained. After the capture of 
Atlanta, General Sherman considered it a military neces- 
sity to dismantle and destroy the city, before he cut loose 
from his base of supplies, and commenced his perilous 



. 




Shermans March ' 

£rom. 

atiamtfato SWAM NAK 



GRANT'S BATTLES AND SHERMAN'S MARCH. 295 

march where for nearly a month his army would be 
lost from all communication with the North. 

The wonderful march from Atlanta to Savannah was 
accomplished in four columns, each masked in all direc- 
tions by clouds of skirmishers. From the time the army 
left Atlanta until its arrival before Savannah, — about 
twenty-four days, — not a word of intelligence respecting 
it was received by the Government, or by the people of 
the North, except through Confederate newspapers. So 
many points were threatened by General Sherman, and 
each with such force, that it was impossible for the enemy 
to decide whether Augusta, Macon, or Savannah were his 
immediate objective. 

The march was magnificently accomplished. We have 
not space here for its thrilling details. On the 25th of 
December, President Lincoln received the following 
telegram from General Sherman : — 

" I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of 
Savannah, with a hundred and fifty heavy guns and 
plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thou- 
sand bales of cotton." 

To this President Lincoln immediately replied, — 

" My dear General Sherman, — Many, many thanks 
for your Christmas gift, — the capture of Savannah. 
When you were about to leave Atlanta for the Atlantic, I 
was anxious, if not fearful ; but feeling that you were the 
better judge, and remembering that ' nothing risked, noth- 
ing gained,' I did not interfere. Now, this undertaking 
being a success, the honor is all yours ; for I believe that 
none of us went further than to acquiesce. And taking 
the work of General Thomas into the count, as it should 
be taken, it is indeed a great success. 

"Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate 



296 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

military advantages, but in showing to the world that 
your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to 
an important new service, and yet leaving enough to 
vanquish the old opposing forces of the whole, — Hood's 
army, — it brings those who sat in darkness to see a 
great light. 

" But what next ? I suppose it will be safe, if I leave 
General Grant and yourself to decide. Please make my 
grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, — officers 
and men. 

" Yours very truly, 

" A. Lincoln." 

Thus closed the year 1864. Everywhere the armies 
of the Union were triumphant : everywhere the Rebellion 
was reeling and staggering beneath the blows which were 
dealt upon it. 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

THE FINAL VICTORY. 

Pride of the Rebels. — Anxiety of the North for Peace. — Sherman's 
March through the Carolinas. — The Ravages of War. — Grant's 
Comprehensive Plans. — Continued Battles. — Lee's Plan of Escape. — 
The Last Struggle. — Lee's Utter Discomfiture. — His Flight. — The 
Surrender. — Overthrow of the Rebellion. — Grant's Farewell Address. 




S we entered upon the fourth year of the 
war, it was evident to every intelligent 
observer that the affairs of the Rebellion 
were hopeless. General Lee was unques- 
tionably as fully aware of this as was any 
one else. The prolongation of the conflict could only 
prolong the reign of misery and death. Still pride im- 
pelled the rebel leaders, notwithstanding the fearful 
woes they were bringing upon their own section of the 
country, to persist to the last extremity. It was not a 
heroic, but a cruel and a wicked resolve. It accomplished 
no good, and only entailed untold misery upon tens of 
thousands of helpless families. 

The North was anxious for peace, and was willing to 
offer almost any terms consistent with national honor 
and territorial integrity. President Lincoln had visited 
the army at Petersburg, and, for the first time, witnessed 
war in all its horrors. His kind heart was harrowed by 
the revolting spectacle. 

297 



298 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

" He walked over ground covered with bodies of the 
slain, more numerous than he could count or cared to 
count. He saw living men with broken heads and man- 
gled forms, and heard the hopeless groans and piteous 
wails of the dying whom no human hand could save. 
He witnessed the bloody work of the surgeons, — those 
carpenters and joiners of human frames, — and saw ampu- 
tated legs and arms piled up in heaps, to be carted away 
like the offal of a slaughter-house ; and he turned from 
the horrid sight, exclaiming, ' This is war, horrid war, 
— the trade of barbarians.' Appealing to his principal 
officers, he inquired, ' Gentlemen, is there no way by 
which we can put a stop to this fighting ? ' " * 

But Jefferson Davis and his confederates had madly 
resolved to overthrow our free institutions, and they 
would listen to no terms whatever which did not destroy 
the life of the nation. Nothing was left for General 
Grant but to strike, with all his strength, the final blows. 
Sherman swept like a tornado through South and North 
Carolina. All opposition melted away before him. 
Charleston, humiliated, scathed, utterly ruined, fell into 
his hands. His conquering legions went wherever they 
would, capturing whatever they wished to capture, de- 
stroying whatever they wished to destroy. The destruc- 
tion of Lee's army was mathematically certain, so soon 
as Sherman should cross the Roanoke, and, in immediate 
co-operation with General Grant, should complete the 
investment of Richmond. The magnificent combinations 
of General Grant were now coming to a triumphant 
conclusion. 

General Sherman commenced his march from Savan- 

* Sherman and his Campaigns, p. 394. 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 299 

nah, with an army full sixty thousand strong. He 
marched along roads several miles apart, but nearly par- 
allel, in columns of about fifteen thousand men. Each 
column, with its baggage train, filled to its utmost capa- 
city about ten miles of road. The troops were mainly 
subsisted upon the country through which they passed. 
All public property which could aid the Rebellion was de- 
stroyed. Depots, car-shops, manufactories, were burned. 
The path of desolation which the army left behind it, 
nearly sixty miles in breadth, was dreadful. 

South Carolina had rendered herself peculiarly obnox- 
ious to the nation. Her representatives in Congress had 
long been insolent in tone to the highest degree, avowedly 
seeking to provoke a quarrel. South Carolina had first 
seceded, and had bombarded Sumter, seeking thus to 
" fire the Southern heart," and to constrain the other 
slave States to unite with her in dissolving the Union. 
She had thus sown the wind. And now, when the whirl- 
wind came, with its sweep of desolation and woe, few 
pitied her, as she sat sullen and unrepentant in the midst 
of her ruins. 

The triumphant Union columns pressed along, sweep- 
ing all opposition before them. As our troops advanced, 
the rebels retreated precipitately from Charleston. There 
the Rebellion commenced, and, in the providence of God, 
upon that city fell the most direful punishment. For 
fourteen months it had been in a state of siege. During 
that time, thirteen thousand shells had been thrown into 
the town. These terrible missiles, rising high into the 
air, plunged upon the roofs of churches, hotels, dwellings, 
stores, and, passing to the basement, exploded with force 
which left the whole edifice but a pile of ruins. A sad 
scene of desolation was presented to our troops as they 



300 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

entered the war-scathed city. The whole of the lower 
part of the town presented but a blackened area of roof- 
less houses, crumbling walls, upheaved pavements, grass- 
grown streets, with here and there a few men and women 
wandering listless and woe-stricken. 

It was now certain that General Sherman would soon 
be able to unite his army with that of General Grant, 
and then a few remaining blows would put an end to the 
Kebellion. The campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas, 
destroying the railroads and all the resources of war 
there, was essential to prevent Lee from retreating to 
those regions, and there prolonging the conflict for years. 
The mind of General Grant ranged the whole vast field 
of the struggle, and planned all the details of the move- 
ments which were to combine in effecting the final result. 
On the 20th of February, he wrote as follows to his ener- 
getic cavalry-leader, General Sheridan : — 

" As soon as it is possible to travel, I think you will 
have no difficulty about visiting Lynchburg, with a cavalry 
force alone. From thence you could destroy the railroad 
and canal in every direction, so as to be of no further use 
to the Rebellion. Sufficient cavalry should be left behind 
to look after Moseby's gang. From Lynchburg, if infor- 
mation you might get there would justify it, you could 
strike south, heading the streams in Virginia, to the 
westward of Danville, and push on, and join Sherman. 

" This additional raid, with one now starting from 
East Tennessee under Stoneman, numbering four or five 
thousand cavalry ; one from Eastport, Mississippi, number- 
ing ten thousand cavalry ; Canby, from Mobile Bay, num- 
bering thirty-eight thousand mixed troops, — these three 
latter pushing for Tuscaloosa, Selma, and Montgomery ; 
and Sherman, with a large army eating out the vitals of 




S b e rra a as M arck 

from 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 301 

South Carolina, — is all that will be wanted to leave noth- 
ing for the Kebellion to stand upon. I would advise you 
to overcome great obstacles to accomplish this. Charles- 
ton was evacuated on Tuesday last." 

At daylight on the morning of the 25th of March, Lee 
made his last offensive movement. He massed an im- 
mense force, and endeavored to break Grant's line at Fort 
Steadman, — a square redoubt, covering about one acre, 
and defended by nine guns. The rush was so sudden and 
impetuous that in about a minute the fort, which was 
about five hundred feet from the enemy's lines, was cap- 
tured by the foe. But scarcely had the rebels' first yell 
of victory died away ere Colonel Tidball's artillery opened 
upon them ; and the rebels, at the same time attacked 
in the rear, were forced out, pell-mell, with the loss of 
eighteen hundred prisoners, and a total loss of three 
thousand men. 

President Lincoln witnessed this battle from an eleva- 
tion in the vicinity. A general attack was ordered ; and 
our troops, in retaliation, took the intrenched picket-line 
of the enemy, and held it, notwithstanding all Lee's efforts 
to get it back. General Grant was well satisfied with 
the results of the day. He said, in the evening, — 

"It will tell upon the next great battle. Lee has 
made a desperate attempt, and failed." 

The rebels were gathering in great strength, under 
General Joe Johnston, in the vicinity of Goldsborough and 
Raleigh, hoping there to overwhelm General Sherman. 
General Grant sent General Sheridan, with his cavalry, 
to the assistance of Sherman, and also sent General 
Schofield, with two divisions, to advance to his aid by the 
way of Newberne. A junction was soon effected between 
these forces, the rebels being bloodily repulsed in all their 



302 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

endeavors to prevent it. Triumphantly General Scho- 
field's troops and General Sherman's, advancing from 
different directions, entered Goldsborough together, and 
grasped hands in excess of joy. It was the union of the 
two armies. They were now in a position to co-operate, 
and to strike the few remaining blows before which the 
Confederacy was doomed to fall. 

General Sherman hastened to the headquarters of 
General Grant, where he arrived on the evening of 
March 29th. An eye-witness has thus described this in- 
terview : — 

" I was sitting in the office of General Grant's adjutant- 
general, on the morning of the 28th of March, and saw 
President Lincoln, with Generals Grant, Sherman, Meade, 
and Sheridan, coming up the walk. Look at the men whose 
names are to have a conspicuous place in the annals of 
America : Lincoln, — tall, round-shouldered, loose-jointed, 
large-featured, deep-eyed, with a smile upon his face ; 
he is dressed in black, and wears a fashionable silk hat. 
Grant is at Lincoln's right, shorter, stouter, more com- 
pact ; wears a military hat, with a stiff, broad brim ; has 
his hands in his pantaloons pocket, and is puffing away 
at a cigar, while listening to Sherman. Sherman, — tall, 
with high, commanding forehead ; is almost as loosely 
built as Lincoln ; has sandy whiskers, closely cropped, 
and sharp, twinkling eyes, long arms and legs, shabby 
coat, slouch hat, his pants tucked into his boots. He is 
talking hurriedly, gesticulating now to Lincoln, now to 
Grant, his eyes wandering everywhere. Meade, — also 
tall, with thin, sharp features, a gray beard, and specta- 
cles ; is a little stooping in his gait. Sheridan, — the short- 
est of all, quick and energetic in all his movements, with 
a face bronzed by sun and wind ; courteous, affable, a 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 303 

thorough soldier. The plan of the lieutenant-general was 
then made known to his subordinates, and each departed, 
during the day, to carry into execution the respective parts 
assigned them." * 

General Grant's line was now about forty miles in 
length, extending from the north side of the James to 
Hatchie's Run. General Weitzel was in command of 
the position on the north side of the James River. The 
crisis was approaching, and Grant watched every move- 
ment of Lee with a sleepless eye. His great apprehension 
was that Lee would attempt to escape, and effect a junction 
with General Johnston, who had an army near Raleigh, 
estimated by General Sherman at between thirty and 
forty thousand infantry, and ten thousand cavalry. The 
united armies of Lee and Johnston, falling suddenly upon 
Sherman, might crush him. 

It was Grant's intention, the moment Lee commenced 
this movement, to fall furiously, with his whole force, 
upon the evacuating columns. On Friday, the last day 
of March, the Fifth Corps was moved south and west to 
take an important position near the bridge over Gravelly 
Run. The enemy was strongly intrenched here. The 
Second and Third Divisions attacked them, and were 
driven back in confusion. General Griffin rode up to 
General J. Lawrence Chamberlain, and said, — 

" General, the Fifth Corps is disgraced. I have told 
General Warren that you can retake that field. Will you 
save the honor of the corps ? " 

It was an appalling undertaking. With one brigade, 
already exhausted by hard fighting, and weakened by 
severe loss, General Chamberlain was to attack the foe 

* Four Years of Fighting. By Charles Carleton Coffin, p. 488. 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 305 

It could not escape. There was nothing before it but 
surrender or destruction. General Grant, anxious to 
avoid the further effusion of blood, condescended (and 
under the circumstances it was a great condescension) to 
make the first advances, and to urge General Lee to 
surrender. On the .7th, he sent the following despatch 
to Lee : — 

" The result of the last week must convince you of the 
hopelessness of further resistance, on the part of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, in this struggle. I feel that 
it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself 
the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by 
asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Con- 
federate-States Army known as the Army of Northern 
Virginia." 

General Lee, while affecting to doubt whether his con- 
dition were entirely hopeless, still asked for the condi- 
tions on which the surrender would be received. Gen- 
eral Grant replied, — 

" Peace being my first desire, there is but one condition 
I insist upon ; namely, that the men surrendered shall be 
disqualified for taking up arms against the Government 
of the United States, until properly exchanged." 

General Lee's response to this was evasive, assuming 
that he did not think that the emergency called for a 
surrender, but that he would meet General Grant to talk 
over the " restoration of peace." General Grant replied ; 
and his reply shows the clearness of his intellectual 
vision : — 

" As I have no authority to treat on the subject of 
peace, the meeting proposed could lead to no good. 1 
will state, however, general, that I am equally anxious 
for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains 



306 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the same feeling. The terms upon which peace may be 
had are well understood. By the South laying down 
their arms, they will hasten that most desirable event, 
save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions 
of property not yet destroyed. Sincerely hoping that all 
our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another 
life, I subscribe myself, 

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" U. S. Grant." 

General Lee must have seen that it was in vain to 
attempt to parley, or to prevaricate, with so clear-sighted 
and straight-forward a man. He returned a despatch 
consenting to the interview. But General Grant was 
then miles away, pushing the pursuit with all vigor. 
He received Lee's despatch at half-past eleven of the 
9th. He hurried to the front, and held an interview 
with Lee. The terms were very simple. All the officers 
and men were to give their parole not to serve against 
the United States until exchanged. All the arms, artil- 
lery, and public property were to be packed and stacked, 
and turned over to the officers appointed by Grant to 
receive them. The officers were permitted to retain their 
side-arms and their private horses or baggage. 

There was nothing for Lee to say but yes or no. He 
said yes. At half-past three, p.m., the terms were signed. 
Our troops had overtaken — as we have mentioned — the 
main body of Lee's army, upon a plain surrounded by 
hills, from which there was no possible escape. They 
were just ready to open fire, when they were astounded 
by the outbursts of cheer upon cheer from the exhausted, 
bleeding, despairing rebel troops. They had first received 
the tidings of the capitulation, and their joyful shouts 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 307 

conveyed the glad news to our army. The cheer was 
echoed back, and the voices of friend and foe blended in 
that joyful cry. The Union troops, who were pressing 
along in the rear, caught the shout, learned its signifi- 
cance, and passed it along their ranks in thunder roar. 
For miles, the hills and the forests rang with the acclaim 
of that grand, patriot army, rejoicing that the spirit of 
rebellion was now trampled down forever. 

Johnston's condition was hopeless. He could be in- 
stantly crushed beneath the armies of Grant and Sher- 
man. Johnston promptly surrendered. General Sherman 
consented to terms which were certainly inconsiderate, 
but the reasons for which were not then fully understood ; 
and he was censured with very undue severity. The 
terms lie proposed were not ratified by the Government; 
and General Sherman, co-operating with General Grant, 
received the surrender of Johnston's army upon the same 
terms with those accepted by General Lee. The scattered 
rebel bands, upon receiving these tidings, either surren- 
dered, or dispersed to their homes. The number sur- 
rendered amounted to 174,223. The number of rebel 
prisoners then on hand was 98,802. The whole Union 
military force, on the 1st of May, amounted to 1,000,516. 
Jefferson Davis, with several members of his cabinet, 
accompanied by a small body of cavalry, endeavored to 
escape, hoping to reach some Southern seaport, and take 
ship for foreign lands. He was hotly pursued, and was 
caught at Irwinsville, in Georgia, on the morning of the 
10th of May. He exposed himself to much derision, 
by being captured disguised in the garb of a woman. 

The war was ended. The nation was saved. General 
Grant was pronounced, by the unanimous voice of his 
countrymen, the Washington of the conflict. In the 



308 LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

following address, issued on the 2d of June, 1865, Gen- 
eral Grant took leave of all the armies which had 
been so long guided by his genius in their arduous cam- 
paigns : — 

" Soldiers of the Armies of the United States, — 
By your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour of 
danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery, 
and endurance, you have maintained the supremacy of 
the Union and the Constitution ; overthrown all armed 
opposition to the enforcement of the laws, and of the 
proclamations forever abolishing slavery, — the cause 
and pretext of the Rebellion ; and opened the way to the 
rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate 
peace, on a permanent and enduring basis, on every 
foot of American soil. 

" Your marches, sieges, and battles, in distance, dura- 
tion, resolution, and brilliancy of results, dim the lustre 
of the world's past military achievements, and will be the 
patriot's precedent in defence of liberty and right in all 
time to come. In obedience to your country's call, you 
left your homes and families, and volunteered in its de- 
fence. Victory has crowned your valor, and secured the 
purpose of your patriotic hearts. And with the grati- 
tude of your countrymen, and the highest honors a great 
and free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted 
to return to your homes and your families, conscious of 
having discharged the highest duty of American citizens. 

" To achieve these glorious triumphs, and secure to 
yourselves, your fellow-countrymen, and posterity the 
blessings of free institutions, tens of thousands of your 
gallant comrades have fallen, and sealed the priceless 
legacy with their lives. The graves of these a grateful 
nation bedews with tears, honors their memories, and 
will ever cherish and support their stricken families." 



THE FINAL VICTORY. 309 

We must here close our sketch of the life of General 
Grant. It is more than probable that he has but just 
entered upon that career of usefulness in which he is des- 
tined to serve his country. Since the close of the war, 
his measures of firmness and of conciliation have been 
such as increasingly to endear him to his countrymen. 
He has ascended another step in the line of military 
promotion, in receiving the appointment of General of 
the Armies of the United States. There is but one more 
exalted honor which can be attained. The nation seems 
to be waiting the appointed time when it can honor itself 
by conferring its highest gift upon Ulysses S. Grant. 



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